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Siobhan McKenna Biography (1923-1986)

Born May 24, 1923, in Belfast, Northern Ireland; died of a heart attack following surgery for lung cancer in Dublin, Ireland, November 16, 1986; daughterof Owen (a mathematical physics professor) and Margaret (a designer and buyerof millinery; maiden name, O'Reilly) McKenna; married Denis O'Dea (an actor), July 7, 1946 (died, 1978); children: a son.

Nationality

Irish

Gender

Female

Birth Details

May 24, 1923

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Death Details

November 16, 1986

Dublin, Ireland

Famous Works

• Credits
• STAGE DEBUT--Title role, Mary Rose and Tons of Money, both with the Gaelic Repertory Theatre at the An Taibhdhearc Theatre, Galway, Ireland, 1940.
• LONDON DEBUT--Nora Fintry, The White Steed, Embassy Theatre, 1947.
• BROADWAY DEBUT--Miss Madrigal, The Chalk Garden, Ethel Barrymore Theatre,1955.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL STAGE APPEARANCES
• With the Gaelic Repertory Theatre at the An Taibhdherarc Theatre, Galway:Mrs. Grigson, Shadow of a Gunman and Bessie Burgess, The Plough and the Stars, both 1940, the wife, Tons of Money, Miriam, Winterset, and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, all 1941, and Bella, Gaslight and appeared in The White Scourge, both1942.
• Nicole, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, and appeared in The Countess Cathleen,The End House, Marks and Mabel, The Far-off Hills, and Thy Dear Father, all with the Abbey Players at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1943-46.
• Helen Pettigrew, Berkeley Square, Q Theatre, London, 1949.
• Title role, Saint Joan, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, and An Taibhdhearc Theatre, Galway, 1950.
• Maura Joyce, Fading Mansion, Duchess Theatre, London, 1951.
• Regina, Ghosts, Embassy Theatre, London, 1951.
• appeared in The White-Headed Boy and as Pegeen Mike, The Playboy of the Western World, both at the Edinburgh Festival, Scotland, 1951.
• title role, Heloise, Duke of York's Theatre, London, 1951, then at the Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1952.
• Avril, Purple Dust, Royal Glasgow Theatre, Scotland, 1953.
• Beauty, The Love of Four Colonels and title role, Anna Christie, both atthe Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, 1953.
• Luka, Arms and the Man and Pegeen Mike, The Playboy of the Western World,both at the Gaiety Theatre, 1954.
• title role, Saint Joan, Gate Theatre, Dublin, 1954, then later at the Arts Theatre, London and St. Martin's Theatre, London, 1955.
• title role, Saint Joan, Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA, 1956, then Phoenix Theatre, New York City, 1956.
• title role, Hamlet, Theatre de Lys, New York City, 1957.
• Viola, Twelfth Night, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Ontario, Canada, 1957.
• Margaret Hyland, The Rope Dancers, Cort Theatre, New York City, 1957.
• Viola, Twelfth Night and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, both Cambridge Drama Festival, MA, 1959.
• Isobel, Motel, Wilbur Theatre, Boston, 1960.
• Pegeen Mike, The Playboy of the Western World, Dublin Theatre Festival, then Piccadilly Theatre, London and St. Martin's Theatre, London, 1960.
• Joan Dark, Saint Joan of the Stockyards, Dublin Festival, Gaiety Theatre,1961.
• Anna Freeman, To Play with a Tiger, Comedy Theatre, London, 1962.
• An Evening with Irish Writers, Shelbourne Theatre, Dublin, 1963.
• Joan Dark, Saint Joan of the Stockyards, Queen's Theatre, London, 1964.
• Marie-Jeanne, The Cavern, Strand Theatre, London, 1965.
• Juno Boyle, Juno and the Paycock, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, 1966.
• title role, The Loves of Cass Maguire, Dublin Festival, 1967.
• Madame Ranevsky, The Cherry Orchard, Dublin Festival, 1968.
• Pearl, On a Foggy Day, St. Martin's Theatre, London, 1969.
• Josie Connaught, Best of Friends, Strand Theatre, London, 1970.
• Here Are Ladies, Playhouse Theatre, Oxford, U.K., then Criterion Theatre,London, 1970.
• Juno Boyle, Juno and the Paycock, Mermaid Theatre, London, 1973.
• The Morgan Yard, Dublin Festival, Olympia Theatre, 1974.
• Here Are Ladies, Gate Theatre, Dublin, 1975.
• Julia Sterroll, Fallen Angels, Gate Theatre, Dublin, 1975.
• Josie, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Gate Theatre, Dublin, 1976.
• Bessie Burgess, The Plough and the Stars, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and in New York City, 1976.
• Jocasta, Sons of Oedipus, Greenwich Festival, U.K., 1977.
• Sarah Bernhardt, Memoir, Guelph Festival, Canada, then Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 1977, and Ambassadors Theatre, London, 1978.
• Margaret, Meeting by the River, Palace Theatre, New York City, 1979.
• Juno Boyle, Juno and the Paycock, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1980.
• Agrippina, Britannicus, produced in London, 1981.
• Here Are Ladies, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1982.
• Bailegangaire, produced in London, 1985.
• Credits; MAJOR TOURS
• Pegeen Mike, The Playboy of the Western World, European cities, 1960.
• Widow Quinn, The Playboy of the Western World, U.K. cities and Hong Kong,1977.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL STAGE WORK; DIRECTOR
• The Playboy of the Western World, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1967.
• Daughter from Over the Water, Dublin, 1968.
• I'm Getting Out of This Kip, Dublin, 1968.
• Tinker's Wedding, Shadow of the Glen, Riders to the Sea, all at the ArtsFestival, Toronto, Canada, 1973.
• Juno and the Paycock, Mermaid Theatre, London, 1973.
• The Playboy of the Western World, produced in U.K. and U.S., 1977.
• The Golden Cradle, Greenwich Festival, London, 1978.
• FILM DEBUT--Kate, Hungry Hill, Rank, 1946.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL FILM APPEARANCES
• Emmy, Daughter of Darkness, Paramount, 1947.
• the Frenchwoman, The Lost People, Gainsborough, 1949.
• Fortune in Diamonds (also known as The Adventurers), Rank, 1952.
• Virgin Mary, King of Kings, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1961.
• Pegeen Mike, The Playboy of the Western World, Janus, 1963.
• Nora, Of Human Bondage, MGM, 1964.
• Anna, Doctor Zhivago, MGM, 1965.
• Philadelphia Here I Come.
• 1975.
• Here Are Ladies.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL TELEVISION APPEARANCES; EPISODIC
• Sister Joanna, "The Cradle Song," Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC, 1957.
• "The Winslow Boy," DuPont Show of the Month, CBS, 1958.
• Maggie, "What Every Woman Knows," DuPont Show of the Month, CBS, 1959.
• Donna Ana, "Don Juan in Hell," Play of the Week, WNTA, 1960.
• "The Woman in White," Great Mysteries, NBC, 1960.
• "The Rope Dancers," Play of the Week, WNTA, 1960.
• Also Hall of Kings, ABC, 1967; Girl Talk, ABC, 1965.
• Credits; MOVIES
• The Last Days of Pompeii, ABC, 1984.
• Also Cuckoo Spit; A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers; The Landlady and Lady Gregory.
• Writings;TRANSLATIONS
• Gaelic translations of Mary Rose and Saint Joan.