Mickey Shaughnessy | |
|---|---|
 As Hunk Houghton in Jailhouse Rock (1957) | |
| Born | Joseph C. Shaughnessy August 5, 1920 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | July 23, 1985 (aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian |
| Years active | 1952–1985 |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Shaughnessy (19??–1985; his death); 7 children |
Joseph C. Shaughnessy (August 5, 1920 – July 23, 1985), better known as Mickey Shaughnessy, was an American actor and comedian.
Joseph C. Shaughnessy was born in New York City. He began in show business working as a singer at resorts, and became a comedian when he saw that the pay was better. He also was a Golden Gloves boxer.[1][2]
He served in World War II and appeared in a U.S. Army revue called "Stars and Gripes". After the war, a Columbia Pictures producer saw him performing on stage and offered him a screen test.[2] His screen debut was in the 1952 film The Marrying Kind.[1]
Shaughnessy, who was six feet tall and weighed 210 pounds, played "tough, colorful characters" in films like From Here to Eternity, where he played the amiable Sergeant Leva.[1] He also appeared in Jailhouse Rock as Elvis Presley's character's prison mentor, and in Designing Woman (1957) as a punch-drunk ex-boxer who could only sleep with his eyes open.[2]
As a performer, he won critical praise for roles that might have otherwise been overlooked. Writing in The New York Times, film critic Bosley Crowther said that Shaughnessy's role in The Sheepman (1958) was the "item to be most grateful for", and called him ''a slag heap of pot-belly, wounded dignity and scowls.''[1]
His final roles included a part in Walt Disney's The Boatniks. He also appeared in the 1971 series Chicago Teddy Bears, a comedy about a speakeasy in the 1920s.[1]
According to the Los Angeles Times, Shaughnessy once said that he always kept in mind "the old Irishman--the guy who refuses the dentist's Novocain. He sits there and takes out his rosary and offers up the pain for his sins."[1]
He also worked in radio and television and had a nightclub act.[1]
In his later years, Shaughnessy lived in Wildwood, New Jersey. He continued his nightclub act until nearly the end of his life. He died July 23, 1985, aged 64, in Cape May Court House, New Jersey of lung cancer. He was survived by his wife Sarah, his sister Alice Shaughnessy, four daughters and three sons.[1][2]
