Jack MacGowran

Jack MacGowran, (October 13, 1918 – January 31, 1973) was an Irish-born character actor. Achieving a name as a member of Dublin's Abbey Players, he achieved stage renown for his knowing interpretations of the works of Samuel Beckett.

MacGowran's film career started in Ireland with the film No Resting Place. By 1954 he had moved to London, and was actually in The Royal Shakespeare Company. There he struck up a lasting friendship with Peter O'Toole. Many of MacGowran's earlier films were set in Ireland. Notably The Quiet Man (1952), The Gentle Gunman (1953), Rooney (1958) and Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). The first London production of Beckett's Endgame brought him acclaim early in the 60's, then Roman Polanski cast him as a gangster in Cul-de-Sac, before creating the mad Professor Abronsius in The Fearless Vampire Killers especially for him.

While in New York filming his scenes for The Exorcist (1973), MacGowran died of complications resulting from the recent London flu epidemic. Jack MacGowran was the father of actress Tara McGowran.