Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland's finest thespians, and was renowned for his interpretations of both classical and contemporary theatre, including Shakespearean roles as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and over 60 productions for the Abbey Theatre, of which he was a lifelong member. In 2020, Cusack was ranked at number 14 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Born to Irish and English parents in South Africa and raised in County Tipperary, Cusack dropped out of law school to join the Abbey Theatre and remained with the company for 13 years, acting in over 60 plays. In London, he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, and later founded his own company which toured across Europe. Making his film debut at age 8, Cusack worked with many notable directors, including Powell and Pressburger, Franco Zeffirelli, François Truffaut, Carol Reed, Peter Brook, Peter Hall, Fred Zinnemann, Christine Edzard and Anthony Harvey. He co-starred opposite Richard Burton several times, who once commended Cusack's acting as "always himself and yet always totally different". Fluent in both English and Irish, Cusack had a starring role in the first Irish-language feature film, Poitín (1978).
He was the patriarch of the Irish Cusack acting family, as the father of Sinéad Cusack, Sorcha Cusack, Niamh Cusack, Pádraig Cusack, and Catherine Cusack.
Early life and education Cusack was born in Durban, Natal, South Africa. His mother, Alice Violet (née Cole), was an English Cockney actress and chorus girl, and his father, James Walter Cusack, was an Irish mounted policeman in Natal Colony, South Africa. His parents separated when he was young and his mother took him to England, and then to Ireland. Cusack's mother and her partner, Brefni O'Rorke, joined the O'Brien and Ireland Players.
Cyril made his first stage performance at the age of seven. He was educated at Newbridge College in Newbridge, County Kildare, then studied law at University College Dublin. He left without a degree and joined the Abbey Theatre in 1932.
Career
Stage Between then and 1945, he performed in over 60 productions for the Abbey, particularly excelling in the plays of Seán O'Casey. He also performed in plays by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy Katie Roche and The King of Spain's Daughter. In 1932 he also joined the Gate Theatre company, appearing with them in many notable productions over the years. In 1947, Cusack formed his own company, Cyril Cusack Productions, and staged productions in Dublin, Paris and New York.
In 1963, Cusack joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and appeared there for several seasons. By this stage he had established a successful career in films, which had started at the age of eight. The same year, Cusack won a Jacob's Award for his performance in the Telefís Éireann production of Triptych.The Irish Times, "Presentation of television awards and citations," 4 December 1963.
Cusack's favorite roles included The Covery in The Plough and the Stars and Christy Mahon in The Playboy of the Western World, which he reprised numerous times.
Cusack's last stage performance was in Chekhov's Three Sisters (1990), in which three of his daughters played the sisters.
Film and television
Cusack made his film debut in Knocknagow (1918), when he was only 8. His breakthrough role was as a wiry IRA getaway driver opposite James Mason in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out (1947). Later film roles included a sinister servant in The Spanish Gardener and the gunsmith in the The Day of the Jackal. On television, he played Bob Assingham, who also functions as the narrator, in the BBC adaptation of The Golden Bowl.
Cusack played the titular role in the Galileo (1968), which was the directorial debut of Italian filmmaker Liliana Cavani. Cusack returned to Italy several times throughout his career, particularly in the 1970s, both acting on-camera and working as a voice artist, helping create English-language dubs of Italian films.
Cusack, who was bilingual in English and Irish, had a leading part in the controversial Irish language film Poitín (1977).
One of his final appearances came in 1989, when he appeared as the elderly Dr Spencer in Danny, the Champion of the World alongside his son-in-law Jeremy Irons and his grandson Samuel.
Sound recordings Among Cusack's audio recordings are the roles of Iago in Othello and Christy in The Playboy of the Western World, excerpts from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Finnegan's Wake, and poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins and W.B. Yeats.
Personal life Cusack was twice married. His first wife was the actress Mary Margaret "Maureen" Kiely, whom he married on 5 April 1945. They had five children: Paul (born 1946) who worked as a producer with RTÉ, Sinéad (born 1948), Sorcha (born 1949), Niamh (born 1959) who all became actresses and Pádraig (born 1962) who worked as an associate producer at the National Theatre in London. Following Maureen's death in 1977, he married Mary Rose Cunningham in 1979, with whom he had previously had a daughter, Catherine (born 1968), who also became an actress.
Cusack was a strong supporter of Irish nationalism, and often selected projects based on those beliefs. In later life, Cusack became a campaigner for conservative causes in Ireland, notably in his opposition to abortion, and he became a frequent letter writer to the main liberal Irish newspaper, The Irish Times.
Regarding his Catholic faith, he commented "Religion promotes the divine discontent within oneself, so that one tries to make oneself a better person and draw oneself closer to God." His religious credentials came under scrutiny following his death and the revelation that he had been unfaithful in his first marriage, with a long-term mistress, Mary Rose Cunningham, who bore him a daughter. Cusack married Cunningham following his first wife's death.
Cusack received an honorary doctorate in 1977 from the NUI and in 1980, from the University of Dublin.
Cusack was a longtime friend of Irish attorney general, Chief Justice and President of Ireland Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, whom he got to know when they were students at University College Dublin in the early 1930s.Garret FitzGerald, All in a Life (Gill and Macmillan, 1991)
Cusack is the maternal grandfather of Irish Socialist Workers Party TD Richard Boyd Barrett and English actor Max Irons.
Death In October 1993, Cusack died at home in Chiswick, Greater London, from MND.
Filmography Films + Year Title RoleDirector(s) Other notes 1918Knocknagow Brian's childFred O'Donovan 1935Guests of the Nation IRA memberDenis Johnston 1936Servants All Billy Alex Bryce Short film 1941Inspector Hornleigh Goes To It Postal SorterWalter FordeOnce a Crook Bill HopkinsHerbert Mason 1947Odd Man Out PatCarol Reed 1948Escape RodgersJoseph L. MankiewiczEsther Waters FredIan Dalrymple, Peter Proud 1949Once a Jolly Swagman DuggieJack LeeThe Small Back Room Corporal TaylorMichael Powell, Emeric PressburgerThe Blue Lagoon James CarterFrank LaunderAll Over the Town Gerald VaneDerek Twist 1950The Elusive PimpernelCitizen ChauvelinMichael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Gone to Earth Edward Marston 1951Soldiers Three Private Dennis MalloyTay GarnettThe Secret of Convict Lake Edward "Limey" CockerellMichael GordonThe Blue Veil Frank HutchinsCurtis Bernhardt 1953Saadia KhadirAlbert Lewin 1954The Last Moment Daniel O'DriscollLance Comfort Segment: "The Sensible Man"Destination Milan Paddy O'ClaffertyLawrence Huntington 1955Passage Home BohannonRoy Ward Baker 1956The Man Who Never Was Cab DriverRonald NeameThe Man in the Road Dr. KellyLance ComfortThe March Hare Lazy ManganGeorge More O'FerrallJacqueline Mr. FlannaganRoy Ward BakerThe Spanish Gardener GarciaPhilip Leacock 1957Ill Met by Moonlight Captain Sandy RendelMichael Powell, Emeric PressburgerThe Rising of the Moon Inspector Michael DillonJohn Ford Segment: "The Majesty of the Law"Miracle in Soho Sam BishopJulian Amyes 1958Gideon's Day Herbert "Birdie" SparrowJohn FordFloods of Fear PeeblesCharles Crichton 1959Shake Hands with the Devil Chris NoonanMichael Anderson 1960A Terrible Beauty Jimmy HannafinTay Garnett 1961Johnny Nobody Prosecuting Counsel O'BrienNigel Patrick 1962Waltz of the Toreadors Dr. GroganJohn GuillerminI Thank a Fool Captain FerrisRobert Stevens 196380,000 Suspects Father MaguireVal Guest 1965The Spy Who Came in from the Cold ControlMartin Ritt 1966Where the Spies Are RosserVal GuestI Was Happy Here HoganDesmond DavisFahrenheit 451 Captain BeattyFrançois Truffaut 1967The Taming of the Shrew GrumioFranco Zeffirelli1968Galileo Galileo GalileiLiliana CavaniOedipus the King The MessengerPhilip Saville 1970Country Dance Dr. MaitlandJ. Lee ThompsonKing Lear Duke of AlbanyPeter BrookTam Lin Vicar Julian AinsleyRoddy McDowall 1971 Sacco & Vanzetti Frederick KatzmannGiuliano MontaldoHarold and Maude GlaucusHal Ashby1972Execution Squad Ernesto StolfiSteno The Italian Connection Corso Fernando Di Leo...All The Way, Boys! MattoGiuseppe Colizzi1973The Bloody Hands of the Law The JudgeMario GariazzoThe Day of the Jackal The GunsmithFred ZinnemannThe Homecoming SamPeter Hall Reprised role from 1965 West End production A Likely Story TomWilliam Kronick 1974Run, Run, Joe! ParkintoshGiuseppe Colizzi The Balloon Vendor The Balloon VendorMario GariazzoJuggernaut Major O'NeillRichard Lester UncreditedThe Abdication Chancellor Axel OxenstiernaAnthony Harvey 1975Children of Rage Mr. ShalomArthur Allan Seidelman 1976Fear in the City Giacomo MasoniGiuseppe Rosati 1978Poitín MichilBob Quinn 1981Lovespell Gormond of IrelandTom DonovanTrue Confessions Cardinal DanaherUlu Grosbard 1982The Outcasts Myles KeenanRobert Wynne-Simmons 1983 The World of Don Camillo The BishopTerence HillWagner Salomon SulzerTony Palmer 1984Nineteen Eighty-Four CharringtonMichael Radford 1986The Ballroom of Romance Mr. DwyerPat O'Connor 1987Little Dorrit Frederick DorritChristine Edzard 1989My Left Foot Lord CastlewellandJim Sheridan 1990The Fool The Ballad SellerChristine Edzard 1992Far and Away Danty DuffRon HowardAs You Like It AdamChristine Edzard
Television