Barry Fitzgerald

Barry Fitzgerald (March 10, 1888 – January 14, 1961) was an Irish actor. Born William Joseph Shields in Dublin, he joined the Abbey Theatre, and starred in such plays as Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, a role he recreated for Alfred Hitchcock in his screen debut in 1930. He is the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields.

Fitzgerald went to Hollywood to star in another O'Casey work, The Plough And The Stars, directed by John Ford. He had a successful Hollywood career in such films as The Long Voyage Home, How Green Was My Valley, And Then There Were None and The Quiet Man. He performed a feat never otherwise done in the history of the Academy Awards when he was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same performance, in 1944's Going My Way. He won the Supporting Actor Oscar, and later broke the head off it while practicing his golf swing.

Fitzgerald has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for movies at 6220 Hollywood Blvd. and for television at 7001 Hollywood Blvd.

Preceded by Charles Coburn for The More the Merrier	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1944 for Going My Way	Succeeded by James Dunn for A Tree Grows In Brooklyn