Jack MacGowran - Americola, the celebrity encyclopedia 
Jack MacGowran
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John Joseph "Jack" MacGowran (October 13 1918, Dublin, Ireland – January 31 1973, New York City) was an Irish-born character actor.
He achieved some measure of fame as a leading member of the 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 Professor Abronsius in The Fearless Vampire Killers especially for him.
In 1959 he created the role of Joxer in the Broadway musical Juno, based on Irish playwright Sean O'Casey's 1924 play about The Troubles,Juno and the Paycock.
While in
New York City filming his scenes for
The Exorcist (1973), MacGowran died of complications resulting from the recent London flu epidemic. He was 54 years old. His daughter is actress
Tara MacGowran.
