Donal Donnelly (6 July 1931 – 4 January 2010) was an English-born Irish theatre and film actor. Perhaps best known for his work in the plays of Brian Friel, he had a long and varied career in film, on television and in the theatre. His travels - he lived in Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S. at various times - led to him describing himself as " ... an itinerant Irish actor ...".
Donnelly recounted this story in his dressing room on Broadway before a performance of The Elephant Man, in an interview with Marlene Aig of the AP. I was her friend, and she brought me along, and I enjoyed an hour in the company of this witty, charming, versatile actor. While filming "Waterloo", Donnelly had an interesting misadventure: he was stranded on location in Siberia. The production had been filming the fall of Napoleon's army in the Russian winter, and the Russian army was being played by real members of the Russian army. The passports of non-Russian cast and crew had been confiscated upon arrival, and were to be returned to them for their departure. On the day they were to be flown out - all non-Russian cast, crew, and equipment, on planes rented by the production - it was discovered that Donal Donnelly's passport had gone missing, and was not in the pile with the others. The passports had been kept in the office of the local Commissar of the Communist party, and he was away for a few days on a fishing trip. His staff could not possibly pry open the locks of his private desk or cupboards to search (wouldn't want to be in trouble with the Party, especially back then), and Donnelly would have to wait until the Commissar's return! Donnelly had to stand there and wave as all his mates from the location shoot boarded, and the plane lifted into the air and disappeared. And the wind howled around him... If it hadn't been so cold, there would have been - Crickets... When the Commissar finally returned, the passport was found in his office - it had somehow fallen out of the pile with the others. Donnelly had to take a slow train from Siberia to Moscow - the kind of train shown in movies, that stops at every village where someone has put out a flag to board a passenger. To show off their effectiveness, at every stop a Communist official from the village would board the train and "inspect" - single out passengers at random, and make them open their bags and let him paw through their things. Since most of the passengers on *this* train were the returning Russian army, Donnelly was the 'random' passenger chosen at every stop. By the time he finally arrived in Moscow (I can't remember if it was 1-2 weeks later), he couldn't wait to get out and get home - probably never to return again. Like most adventures, it made a great story afterwards, but was not much fun while he lived it.
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He specialized in portraying a variety of Irish characters on stage and screen, particularly in the plays of Brian Friel.
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Was nominated for Broadway's 1966 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for Brian Friel's "Philadelphia, Here I Come!"
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Attended the same Christian Brothers grade school as actor Milo O'Shea in Dublin.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
DDU
1999
TV Series
Fr. Brennan
Love & Rage
1999
Sweeney
This Is My Father
1998/I
John Maney
Korea
1995
John Doyle
Words Upon the Window Pane
1994
Cornelius Patterson
Squanto: A Warrior's Tale
1994
Brother Paul
Mesmer
1994
Doctor (as Donal Donelly)
Red Riding Hood
1992
Short
Narrator (voice)
Law & Order
1991
TV Series
Daniel Mallahan
The Godfather: Part III
1990
Archbishop Gilday
Twister
1989
Doctor
The Dead
1987
Freddy Malins
Spenser: For Hire
1986
TV Series
Mr. Martin
ITV Playhouse
1968-1982
TV Series
Jokey Nelson / Marlon
Yes, Honestly
1976-1977
TV Series
Matthew Browne
The Venetian Twins
1976
TV Movie
The Twins
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1974
TV Series
Cody
Great Mysteries
1973
TV Series
Mr. Budd
Waterloo
1970/I
O'Connor (as Donald Donnelly)
Z Cars
1963-1970
TV Series
Bernard Spencer / Manny Price
The Mind of Mr. Soames
1970
Joe Allan
Department S
1969
TV Series
Stacey
Out of the Unknown
1969
TV Series
Pete
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965-1968
TV Series
Frank / The Applicant
The Wednesday Play
1966-1968
TV Series
Alf / Rory
Pardon the Expression
1966
TV Series
Patrick O'Gorman
Up Jumped a Swagman
1965
Bockeye
ITV Play of the Week
1958-1965
TV Series
Seaman Tyrrell / Alvin Hanker / Pte Sparky / ...
The Knack... and How to Get It
1965
Tom
No Hiding Place
1962-1965
TV Series
Jerry Dempsey / Danny Nolan
Young Cassidy
1965
1st Hearseman
A Little Big Business
1965
TV Series
Shop assistant
First Night
1964
TV Series
Rica
Festival
1964
TV Series
Tim Haffigan / Younger Man
Espionage
1964
TV Series
Footman
Underworld Informers
1963
Tommy the Trotter (uncredited)
The Sentimental Agent
1963
TV Series
Larry
BBC Sunday-Night Play
1963
TV Mini-Series
George
The Avengers
1962
TV Series
Vincent O'Brien
International Detective
1960
TV Series
Fallon
I'm All Right Jack
1959
Perce Carter
Shake Hands with the Devil
1959
Willie Lafferty
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
1957-1959
TV Series
Patsy / Mick Dooley / Willie O'Reilly / ...
ITV Television Playhouse
1958
TV Series
Conor Keegan
Television Playwright
1958
TV Series
A Young Detective
Gideon of Scotland Yard
1958
Feeney
The New Adventures of Charlie Chan
1957
TV Series
Cab Driver
The Rising of the Moon
1957
Prisoner Sean Curran aka Jimmy Walsh
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Irish Cinema: Ourselves Alone?
1995
Himself
John Huston and the Dubliners
1987
Documentary
Himself
Tempo
1964
TV Series
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980
1992
Video
Archbishop Gilday
Known for movies
The Godfather: Part III (1990) as Archbishop Gilday
$1.7 Million
