Acting · Dublin, Ireland · Born December 16, 1884
Joseph Michael Kerrigan (16 December 1884 – 29 April 1964), better known as J.M. Kerrigan, was an Irish character actor. Kerrigan was born in Dublin, Ireland. He worked as a newspaper reporter until 1907 when he joined the famous Abbey Players. There he became a stalwart, appearing in plays by Lady Gregory, William Butler Yeats and John Millington Synge (for whom he played the role of Shawn Keogh in The Playboy of the Western World. His first screen appearance was in the silent film Food of Love in 1916. By the 1920s he was appearing on Broadway, often in plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Sheridan. He settled permanently in Hollywood in 1935, having been recruited along with several other Abbey performers, to appear in John Ford's The Informer. In that film and in Ford's The Long Voyage Home, he plays similar roles, that of a leech who attaches himself to men until they run out of money. Perhaps his best known role was in The General Died at Dawn, where he plays a character actually named Leach, in which he steals scenes from Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll and William Frawley. In it he plays a sinister little petty thief who, holding a gun on Cooper, says, "I may be fat, but I'm agile." He had little screen time in films which he starred as minor roles, such as the "First Drayman" in Merely Mary Ann (1931) with Janet Gaynor. One of his most recognizable minor roles was in Gone with the Wind (1939), in which he played John Gallegher, the seemly jovial mill owner who whips his convict labour in to "co-operation". He appeared in Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), the famous film version of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in a minor role at the beginning of the film. In 1946, he tried breaking into Broadway shows, playing the discombobulated leprechaun Jackeen J. O'Malley in the show "Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley", based on the Crockett Johnson comic strip. J. M. Kerrigan died in Hollywood on 29 April 1964, aged 79. Kerrigan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6621 Hollywood Blvd.
TVShirley Temple's Storybook
1958
as Mr Pickles
MovieThe Fastest Gun Alive
1956
as Kevin McGovern
MovieIt's a Dog's Life
1955
as Paddy Corbin
TVMatinee Theater
1955
TVFrontier
1955
Movie20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1954
as Billy
TVLetter to Loretta
1953
as Mr. Thomas J. Flaherty
MovieThe Silver Whip
1953
as Riley
TVGeneral Electric Theater
1953
as Jimmy
MovieMy Cousin Rachel
1952
as Reverend Pascoe
MoviePark Row
1952
as Dan O'Rourke
MovieThe Wild North
1952
as Callahan
MovieTwo of a Kind
1951
MovieSealed Cargo
1951
as Skipper Ben
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Dr. Makery
MovieMrs. Mike
1949
as Uncle John
MovieThe Fighting O'Flynn
1949
as Timothy
TVStudio One
1948
as Pether Flynn
MovieThe Luck of the Irish
1948
as Tatie the Innkeeper
MovieCall Northside 777
1948
as Sullivan - Court Bailiff (uncredited)
MovieAbie's Irish Rose
1946
as Patrick Murphy
MovieBlack Beauty
1946
as John
MovieShe Went to the Races
1945
as Jeff Habbard
MovieThe Spanish Main
1945
as Pillery Gow
MovieThe Crime Doctor's Warning
1945
as Robert MacPherson (uncredited)
MovieThe Great John L.
1945
as Father O'Malley
MovieTarzan and the Amazons
1945
as Splivens
MovieThe Big Bonanza
1944
as 'Judge' Jasper Kincaid
MovieWilson
1944
as Edward Sullivan
MovieThe Fighting Seabees
1944
as Sawyer Collins
MovieMr. Lucky
1943
as Mr. McDougal (uncredited)
MovieAction in the North Atlantic
1943
as Caviar Jinks (uncredited)
MovieCaptains of the Clouds
1942
as Foster
MovieThe Vanishing Virginian
1942
as John Phelps
MovieThe Wolf Man
1941
as Charles Conliffe
MovieAppointment for Love
1941
as Timothy
MovieThe Long Voyage Home
1940
as Crimp
MovieNo Time for Comedy
1940
as Jim
MovieThe Sea Hawk
1940
as Eli Matson
MovieOne Crowded Night
1940
as Brother 'Doc' Joseph
MovieUntamed
1940
as Mr. Angus McGavity
MovieCurtain Call
1940
as Mr. Middleton
MovieYoung Tom Edison
1940
as Mr. McCarney
MovieCongo Maisie
1940
as Captain Finch
MovieGone with the Wind
1939
as Johnny Gallagher
MovieTwo Thoroughbreds
1939
as Jack Lenihan
MovieSabotage
1939
as Mel
MovieThe Witness Vanishes
1939
as Flinters
MovieTwo Bright Boys
1939
as Mike Casey
Movie6,000 Enemies
1939
as Dan Barrett
MovieThe Zero Hour
1939
as Timothy
MovieUnion Pacific
1939
as Monahan
MovieSorority House
1939
as Lew Fisher
MovieUndercover Agent
1939
as Tom 'Pop' Madison
MovieThe Kid From Texas
1939
as Farr
MovieThe Flying Irishman
1939
as Mr. Clyde Corrigan Sr.
MovieThe Great Man Votes
1939
as Hot Shot Gillings
MovieRide a Crooked Mile
1938
as Sgt. Flynn
Little Orphan Annie
1938
as Tom Jennings
MovieSpring Madness
1938
as Mr. Maloney (uncredited)
MovieVacation from Love
1938
as Danny Dolan, Hansom Cabbie
MovieLondon by Night
1937
as Tims
MovieMotor Madness
1937
as Henry John 'Cap' McNeil
MovieThe Plough and the Stars
1936
as Uncle Peter
MovieLloyd's of London
1936
as Brook Watson
MovieThe General Died at Dawn
1936
as Leach
MovieLet's Make a Million
1936
as Sam Smith
MovieSpendthrift
1936
as Pop O'Connell
MovieSpecial Investigator
1936
as Judge Plumgate
MovieColleen
1936
as Pop Reilly
MovieLaughing Irish Eyes
1936
as Tim
MovieThe Prisoner of Shark Island
1936
as Judge Maiben
MovieTimothy's Quest
1936
as Dr. Cudd
MovieA Feather in Her Hat
1935
as Pobjoy
MovieBarbary Coast
1935
as Judge Harper
MovieHot Tip
1935
as Matt
MovieWerewolf of London
1935
as Hawkins
MovieThe Informer
1935
as Terry
MovieVanessa: Her Love Story
1935
as Perkins (uncredited)
MovieThe Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935
as Chief Verger Tope
MovieThe Fountain
1934
as Shordley
MovieThe Key
1934
as O'Duffy
MovieA Modern Hero
1934
as Mr. Ryan
MovieThe Lost Patrol
1934
as Quincannon
MovieLone Cowboy
1933
as Mr. Curran
MoviePaddy the Next Best Thing
1933
as Collins
MovieA Study in Scarlet
1933
as Jabez Wilson
MovieAir Hostess
1933
as Pop Kearny
MovieRockabye
1932
as Fagin
MovieVanity Street
1932
as Dan - Irish Cop (uncredited)
MovieCareless Lady
1932
as Trowbridge
MovieThe Rainbow Trail
1932
as Paddy Harrigan
MovieMerely Mary Ann
1931
as First Drayman
MovieThe Black Camel
1931
as Thomas MacMasters
MovieDon't Bet on Women
1931
as Chipley Duff
MovieUnder Suspicion
1930
as Doyle
MovieLightnin'
1930
as Judge Lemuel Townsend
MovieNew Movietone Follies of 1930
1930
as Gateman in Show
MovieSong o' My Heart
1930
as Peter
Lucky In Love
1929
as Connors
MovieLittle Old New York
1923
as John O'Day
