Milo O'Shea

Milo O'Shea was an Irish actor who starred in comedy and tragedy roles on stage and screen. He was known for his roles in Barbarella, Romeo and Juliet, The Verdict and The West Wing. He died in 2013 from Alzheimer's disease. O'Shea was born and raised in Dublin and educated by the Christian Brothers at Synge Street school, where he shared a desk with Eamonn Andrews. His father was a singer and his mother a ballet teacher. He was bilingual and performed in English and Irish in the Abbey Theatre Company. He appeared in George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra at the Gate Theatre at age 12. He later studied music and drama at the Guildhall School in London and was a skilled pianist. O'Shea began acting on the stage, then moved into film in the 1960s. He became popular in the United Kingdom, as a result of starring in the BBC sitcom Me Mammy alongside Yootha Joyce. In 1967–68 he appeared in the drama Staircase, co-starring Eli Wallach and directed by Barry Morse, which stands as Broadway's first depiction of homosexual men in a serious light. For his role in that drama, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1968. He also starred as Leopold Bloom in Joseph Strick's 1967 film version of Ulysses. Among his other memorable film roles in the 1960s were the well-intentioned Friar Laurence in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet and the villainous Dr. Durand Durand in Roger Vadim's counterculture classic Barbarella (both films were released in 1968). In 1984, O'Shea reprised his role as Dr. Durand Durand for the Duran Duran concert film Arena (An Absurd Notion), since his character inspired the band's name. He played Inspector Boot in the 1973 Vincent Price horror,comedy film Theatre of Blood. He was active in American films and television, such as his memorable supporting role as the trial judge in the Sidney Lumet-directed movie The Verdict (1982) with Paul Newman, an episode of The Golden Girls in 1987, and portraying Chief Justice of the United States Roy Ashland in the television series The West Wing. In 1992, O'Shea guest starred in the season 10 finale of the sitcom Cheers and in 1995, in an episode of the show's spin-off Frasier. O'Shea was married twice, first to actress Maureen Toal from 1952 to 1974, with whom he had two sons, Colm and Steven. He then married actress and singer Kitty Sullivan in 1976, who survived him. He died on 2 April 2013 in Manhattan from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was buried at Deans Grange Cemetery in Dublin.