Micheál MacLiammóir

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Micheál MacLíammóir (born Alfred Willmore) (October 25, 1899 – March 6, 1978) was an Irish actor and dramatist. MacLíammóir was born to a Protestant family living in the Kensal Green neighbourhood of London.

As Alfred Willmore he was one of the leading child actors on the English stage, in the company of Noel Coward. In the 1920s he travelled all over Europe, eventually settling in Dublin where he met his partner and lover, Hilton Edwards. Willmore was captivated by Irish culture: he learnt the Irish language and changed his name to an Irish version. He co-founded the Gate Theatre in Dublin in 1928 with Edwards.

In 1948, he appeared in the NBC television production of Great Catherine with Gertrude Lawrence. He played Iago in Orson Welles's film version of Othello (1952). His Iago is unusual in that MacLíammóir was about fifty (and looked older) when he played the role, while most Iagos are about thirty-five or so. This may have been because of Welles' intended interpretation - he wanted Iago played as an older homosexual consumed by jealousy for the younger Othello. The following year, he went on to play 'Poor Tom' in another Welles project, the TV film of King Lear (1953) for CBS. He narrated the 1963 film, Tom Jones. He was the Irish storyteller in 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968) which starred Dudley Moore and, in 1971, he played an elocution teacher in Curtis Harrington's What's the Matter with Helen?.

In 1951, during a break in the filming of Othello, MacLíammóir produced Welles' ghost-story Return to Glennascaul which was directed by Hilton Edwards.

MacLíammóir wrote and performed a one-man show, The Importance of Being Oscar, based on the life and work of Oscar Wilde. It was later filmed by the BBC with MacLíammóir reprising the role.

MacLíammóir claimed when talking to Irish playwright, Mary Manning, to have had a homosexual relationship with General Eoin O'Duffy, former Garda Siochana Commissioner and head of the quasi-fascist Blueshirts in Ireland, during the 1930s. The claim was revealed publicly by RTÉ in a documentary, The Odd Couple, broadcast in 1999. However, MacLíammóir's claims have not been substantiated by any evidence.

MacLíammóir is the subject of the 1990 play The Importance of Being Micheál (also published as a book) by John Keyes.