Dermot Walsh

Dublin-born stage actor, producer and writer Dermot Walsh was the son of a journalist and educated at Dublin's St. Mary's College and National University, initially focusing on law. He studied drama at the Abbey Theatre School of Acting and built up his reputation performing at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. Some talent scouts in Ireland interested in making some pictures about his homeland happened to spot him in a production and eventually signed him up after he had made a choice move to London to further his career. His first postwar film role was a bit part as a chauffeur in Bedelia (1946), but after signing with Rank he was groomed immediately for prime parts. In only his second feature he showcased well as the philandering "Wild Johnnie" in Hungry Hill (1947). He became a strong fixture for Rank in plush Gainsborough's Victorian costumers or crime melodramas such as Jassy (1947) and The Mark of Cain (1947), To the Public Danger (1948) and My Sister and I (1948) opposite such lovelies as Margaret Lockwood, Glynis Johns, Sally Ann Howes and Hazel Court, the last mentioned becoming his wife in 1949. In 1949 the dark, dashingly handsome actor left Rank and began to freelance in assembly-line programmers such as Paper Gallows (1950), and co-starred with wife Hazel in two of them: Ghost Ship (1952) and Undercover Agent (1953). Keyed in to playing hard-boiled characters in rather murky thrillers, frustration set in when he was unable to extricate himself from his "B" reputation. He later focused on TV work, including the adventure series Richard the Lionheart (1962), and the theatre. Some of his more prominent stage work over the years included "Reluctant Heroes" (1950), "Relations Are Best Apart" (1954), "Mary, Mary" (1963), "Ring of Jackals" (1965), "Lady Frederick" (1970), and "No Sex Please, We're British" (1986), not to mention an abundance of cat-and-mouse whodunnits including "Murder Among Friends" (1978), "Who Killed Agatha Christie?" (1979) and "The Mousetrap" (1980). He also wrote the play "The Murder Line" in 1967 and produced a few of his later endeavors such as "Stage Struck" and "Blithe Spirit" both in 1982. Walsh was married three times in all -- divorcing twice and surviving his third wife Elisabeth Scott, who died in 1993. He had four children from his three marriages: Sally, Michael, Olivia, and Elisabeth (also an actress). He died on June 26, 2002 at age 77.