Kitty McShane
Encyclopedia
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
– died 24 March 1964, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) is best known as the wife and acting partner of Arthur Lucan
Arthur Lucan
Arthur Lucan was an English actor who gained fame as Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and also screen, with a series of comedy films between the late 1930s and early 1950s.-Biography:...
, with whom she appeared in a series of Old Mother Riley
Old Mother Riley
Old Mother Riley was a music hall act which originally ran from about 1934 to 1954 played by Arthur Lucan, then from 1954 to 1977 by Roy Rolland....
stage shows and films from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Early life
Catherine McShane was the fourth of seventeen children born to Daniel and Kate McShane, of whom only seven survived to adulthood. In 1910 Arthur LucanArthur Lucan
Arthur Lucan was an English actor who gained fame as Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and also screen, with a series of comedy films between the late 1930s and early 1950s.-Biography:...
was touring Ireland and was playing his pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
in Dublin. Here he met McShane, who successfully auditioned for a part in the show as a singer. Aged just 16 she married the 28 year old Lucan on 25 November 1913 at the Church of St Andrews in Dublin. The couple had one son, Donald Daniel Towle (2 October 1915, Dublin – 1970).
'Old Mother Riley'
McShane and Lucan became a popular music hallMusic hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and film double act during their nearly forty years together. They gradually evolved the stage characters of Old Mother Riley
Old Mother Riley
Old Mother Riley was a music hall act which originally ran from about 1934 to 1954 played by Arthur Lucan, then from 1954 to 1977 by Roy Rolland....
, with Lucan appearing in drag as Mrs Daphne Snowdrop Bluebell Riley from Dublin, and McShane playing her daughter 'Kitty Riley', whose wayward ways resulted in many of Mother Riley's amusing reactions.
McShane appeared in 14 of the 15 'Old Mother Riley' films. Lucan and McShane's marriage was difficult, possibly due to their age difference and the rumours of McShane's many affairs, and they separated in 1951. In McShane's last film, Old Mother Riley's Jungle Treasure (1951), their scenes were filmed on separate days. McShane opened a beauty salon, which failed, while Lucan continued to support her financially.
Following Lucan's death in 1954, McShane continued the act with an impersonator playing the 'Mother Riley' role, but the venture was not successful. The death of her partner, Billy Bleach, from cancer of the bladder in December 1963 led to McShane having serious problems with alcohol.
McShane was found dead at her London home on 24 March 1964, aged 66, from undisclosed causes.
Legacy
In 1983, Alan PlaterAlan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
wrote a play, On Your Way, Riley, about Arthur Lucan
Arthur Lucan
Arthur Lucan was an English actor who gained fame as Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and also screen, with a series of comedy films between the late 1930s and early 1950s.-Biography:...
's life with Kitty McShane, with songs by Alex Glasgow
Alex Glasgow
Alex Glasgow was a singer/songwriter from Low Fell, Gateshead, England. He was educated at Gateshead Grammar School where he founded the Caprians, a choir that, 55 years on and still counting, is thriving. He graduated in German at the University of Leeds...
. This was also broadcast on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in 1985 with Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy (actor)
Brian Murphy is a British actor.Murphy was born in Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Although a prolific actor in many films and theatre productions for almost half a century, Murphy's most famous role was as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom Man About the House and spin-off George and...
and Maureen Lipman
Maureen Lipman
Maureen Diane Lipman CBE is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist and comedienne.-Early life:Lipman was born in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the...
in the leading roles.
Filmography
- Old Mother Riley's Jungle Treasure (1951)
- Old Mother Riley, Headmistress (1950)
- Old Mother Riley's New Venture (1949)
- Old Mother Riley at Home (1945)
- Old Mother Riley Detective (1943)
- Old Mother Riley Overseas (1943)
- Old Mother Riley's Ghosts (1941)
- Old Mother Riley in Business (1941)
- Old Mother Riley's Circus (1941)
- Old Mother Riley in Society (1940)
- Old Mother Riley Joins Up (1940)
- Old Mother Riley, MP (1940)
- Old Mother Riley in ParisOld Mother Riley in ParisOld Mother Riley in Paris is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane, Magda Kun and C. Denier Warren...
(1938) - Kathleen Mavourneen (1937)
- Old Mother RileyOld Mother Riley (film)Old Mother Riley is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane, Barbara Everest, Patrick Ludlow and Hubert Leslie...
(1937) - Stars on Parade (1936)
External links
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574538/McShane on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
] - http://www.peterwilkinson.karoo.net/omrkitty.htmKitty McShane on the Arthur LucanArthur LucanArthur Lucan was an English actor who gained fame as Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and also screen, with a series of comedy films between the late 1930s and early 1950s.-Biography:...
website] - Lucan and McShane on Comminigate.co.uk
- McShane on 'The Complete Index To World Film since 1895'