Niall MacGinnis

Niall MacGinnis
MacGinnis as the title character in the film Martin Luther (1953)
Born	Patrick Niall MacGinnis (1913-03-29)29 March 1913 Dublin, Ireland
Died	6 January 1977(1977-01-06) (aged 63) Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
Years active	1935–1977
Spouse(s)	Sheila Macdonal ​ ​ (m. 1942, divorced)​ Eleonore MacGinnis ​ ​ (m. 1955)​
Children	1

Patrick Niall MacGinnis (29 March 1913 – 6 January 1977) was an Irish actor who made around 80 screen appearances.

Early life

MacGinnis was born in Dublin in 1913. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit public school in Lancashire in the North of England, and studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), qualifying as a house surgeon. During the Second World War, MacGinnis served as a surgeon in the British Royal Navy.

In 1938 he starred in the hit comedy play Spring Meeting in the West End.

Acting career

Among his more notable film roles are:

• a German U-boat sailor in the British war film 49th Parallel (1941)
• Captain MacMorris in Henry V (1944)
• the title character in the film Martin Luther (1953)
• the villain Julian Karswell opposite American actor Dana Andrews in the British horror film Night of the Demon (1957, released in the United States as Curse of the Demon)
• Zeus in Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

On television, he played the arch-criminal A. J. Kent in the Danger Man episode "Battle of The Cameras" and Colonel Probst in The Saint episode "The Paper Chase".

Later life

In 1942, MacGinnis married Sheila Mcdonald; the couple later divorced. In 1955, he married his second wife Eleanor, with whom he had a daughter. In the mid-1970s, he gave up acting, moved back to his native Ireland, and returned to the medical profession. He lived in Ashford, County Wicklow, Ireland, until he died of cancer in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, in January 1977, aged 63. Eleanor remained in Ashford until her death in 2013. Their daughter and family still reside on the family property.

Complete filmography