Niall MacGinnis

Niall MacGinnis
MacGinnis as the title character in the film Martin Luther (1953)
Born	Patrick Niall MacGinnis (1913-03-29)29 March 1913 Dublin, Ireland
Died	6 January 1977(1977-01-06) (aged 63) Newport, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Years active	1935–1977
Spouses	Sheila Macdonal ​ ​ (m. 1942, divorced)​ Eleonore MacGinnis ​ ​ (m. 1955)​
Children	1

Patrick Niall MacGinnis (29 March 1913 – 6 January 1977) was an Irish actor who made around 80 screen appearances.

Early life

MacGinnis was born in Dublin in 1913. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit public school in Lancashire in the North of England, and studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), qualifying as a house surgeon. During the Second World War, MacGinnis served as a surgeon in the Royal Navy.

In 1938 he starred in the hit comedy play Spring Meeting in the West End.

Acting career

Among his more notable film roles are:

• a German U-boat sailor in the British war film 49th Parallel (1941)
• Captain MacMorris in Henry V (1944)
• the title character in the film Martin Luther (1953)
• the villain Julian Karswell opposite American actor Dana Andrews in the British horror film Night of the Demon (1957, released in the United States as Curse of the Demon)
• Zeus in Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

On television, he played the arch-criminal A. J. Kent in the Danger Man episode "Battle of The Cameras" and Colonel Probst in The Saint episode "The Paper Chase".

Later life

In 1942, MacGinnis married Sheila Mcdonald; the couple later divorced. In 1955, he married his second wife Eleanor, with whom he had a daughter. In the mid-1970s, he gave up acting, moved back to his native Ireland, and returned to the medical profession. He lived in Ashford, County Wicklow, Ireland, until he died of cancer in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in January 1977, aged 63, where he had been working in the medical profession. Eleanor remained in Ashford until her death in 2013. Their daughter and family still reside on the family property.

Complete filmography

• Turn of the Tide (1935) – John Lunn
• The Crimson Circle (1936) – Jack Beardmore
• Debt of Honour (1936) – Lt. Peter Stretton
• Ourselves Alone (1936) – Terence Elliott
• The Luck of the Irish (1936) – Derek O'Neill
• The Edge of the World (1937) – The Gray Family: Andrew, His Son
• The Last Adventurers (1937) – Jeremy Bowker
• Spring Meeting (1938 TV movie) – Michael Byrne
• Mountains O'Mourne (1938) – Paddy Kelly
• East of Piccadilly (1941) – Joe
• 49th Parallel (1941) – Vogel
• The Day Will Dawn (1942) – Olaf
• We Dive at Dawn (1943) – Torpedo Gunner's Mate – C/P.O. Mike Corrigan
• Undercover (1943) – Dr. Jordon
• The Demi-Paradise (1943) – Man on ship-dedication stand (uncredited)
• The Hundred Pound Window (1944) – Chick Slater
• Tawny Pipit (1944) – Jimmy Bancroft
• Henry V (1944) – Macmorris – Irish Captain in the English Army
• Captain Boycott (1947) – Mark Killain
• Death at Newtownstewart (1948 TV movie) – District Inspector Montgomery
• Anna Karenina (1948) – Levin
• Hamlet (1948) – Sea Captain
• No Room at the Inn (1948) – O'Rane
• Christopher Columbus (1949) – Juan de la Cosa
• Diamond City (1949) – Hans Muller
• Which Will Ye Have? (1949 short) – Barabbas
• Chance of a Lifetime (1950) – Baxter
• Talk of a Million (1951) – Tom Cassidy
• No Highway in the Sky (1951) – Captain Samuelson, Pilot (uncredited)
• Murder in the Cathedral (1951) – Herald
• Martin Luther (1953) – Martin Luther
• Knights of the Round Table (1953) – Green Knight
• Hell Below Zero (1954) – Dr. Howe
• Conflict of Wings (1954) – Harry Tilney
• Betrayed (1954) – "Blackie"
• Special Delivery (1955) – Sidney
• Helen of Troy (1956) – Menelaus
• Alexander the Great (1956) – Parmenion
• Lust for Life (1956) – Roulin
• The Shiralee (1957) – Beauty Kelly
• Night of the Demon (1957) – Doctor Karswell
• She Didn't Say No! (1958) – James Casey
• Behind the Mask (1958) – Neil Isherwood
• The Nun's Story (1959) – Father Vermeuhlen (Leprosarium)
• Shake Hands with the Devil (1959) – Michael O'Leary
• Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959) – Kruger
• This Other Eden (1959) – Devereaux
• Kidnapped (1960) – Mr. Shuan
• Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960) – Defense Counsel
• A Terrible Beauty (1960) – Ned O'Neill
• In the Nick (1960) – Prison Governor
• Foxhole in Cairo (1960) – Radek
• Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) – Friar Tuck
• Johnny Nobody (1961) – Defending Counsel Sullivan
• The Webster Boy (1962) – Headmaster
• Billy Budd (1962) – Nathaniel Graveling – Ship's Master, Rights of Man
• The Devil's Agent (1962) – Paul Vass
• The Playboy of the Western World (1963) – Old Mahon
• Jason and the Argonauts (1963) – Zeus
• The Man Who Finally Died (1963) – Brenner
• Face in the Rain (1963) – Klaus
• Becket (1964) – Baron
• The Truth About Spring (1965) – Cleary
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) – Checkpoint Charlie Guard
• The War Lord (1965) – Odins
• A Man Could Get Killed (1966) – Ship's Captain
• Island of Terror (1966) – Mr. Roger Campbell
• The Viking Queen (1967) – Tiberian
• Torture Garden (1967) – Dr. Silversmith
• The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) – Capuchin friar
• Krakatoa, East of Java (1969) – Harbor Master
• Sinful Davey (1969) – Boots Simpson
• The Kremlin Letter (1970) – Erector Set
• Darling Lili (1970) – Von Hindenburg (uncredited)
• River of Mystery (1971 TV movie) – Garwood Drum
• The Mackintosh Man (1973) – Warder
• Crisis in Sun Valley (1978 TV movie) – James (final film role)

External links

• Niall MacGinnis at IMDb