Cyril Cusack
Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor whose career lasted more than 70 years. He was born in Durban, South Africa, to Irish and English parents and grew up in Ireland and England.
Cusack began acting at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1932, where he performed in more than 60 plays. He also worked with the Gate Theatre and later formed his own company, Cyril Cusack Productions, which toured across Europe. In 1963 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and later worked with the Royal National Theatre.
He acted in many films, starting as a child at age eight in Knocknagow (1918). His breakout film role was as an IRA getaway driver in Odd Man Out (1947). Other notable films include Galileo (1968) and Poitín (1977), the first Irish-language feature film. He spoke both English and Irish and was known for his versatility on screen and stage.
Cusack was the patriarch of the famous Cusack acting family. He and his first wife, Mary Margaret Kiely, had five children: Paul, Sinéad, Sorcha, Niamh, and Pádraig. After Maureen’s death, he married Mary Rose Cunningham in 1979, with whom he had Catherine. His grandchildren include Richard Boyd Barrett and Max Irons, among others, and he was connected to the Irons acting family through his son-in-law, Jeremy Irons.
He spent his later years in London and died in 1993 from motor neurone disease. Cusack is remembered as one of Ireland’s greatest actors, celebrated for his work in both Irish and international theatre.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:02 (CET).