Gabriel Walsh

Gabriel Walsh was born in Dublin. At the age of 15, while working as a waiter in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin he met Irish Opera singer Margaret Burke-Sheridan (1889–1958). This encounter would change his life. He would go on to become a prominent writer, publishing books and producing scripts for TV shows and movies.[1]

Gabriel Walsh
Walsh in Fermoy, County Cork
Born
Gabriel Walsh

Dublin, Ireland
OccupationScript-writer, actor and author
AwardsQuackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx Nominated for best comedy written for the screen – Writers Guild of America

Early years

Margaret Burke-Sheridan convinces his family to allow the teenager to move to the US to further his education. Walsh travels to New York to live with a host family where he completes his education. Walsh attended the Lee Strasberg School of Acting in New York and L.A.

Career

Since the 1970s, Walsh has either been writing screen plays, acting, co-producing or writing for the Evening Echo newspaper in Cork.[2]

In 1970, Walsh wrote the screen-play Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx which stars Gene Wilder as Quackser Fortune and Margot Kidder as Zazel Pierce.

Quackser Fortune grabbed the attention of Jean Renoir. Gene Wilder, in his book Kiss Me Like A Stranger published by St Martin's Press, quotes the legendary French Director as saying "not since Chaplin have I come across such as character as this Quackser".

The movie received mixed reviews when it was first released in 1970.[3] But in 1971, Walsh's screen play was nominated for best comedy written for the screen at the Writers Guild of America. In 2012, Quackser Fortune has a Cousin in the Bronx was listed in the Sunday Times as one of the top 100 Irish movies ever produced.

Film and TV work

Walsh appeared in a number of movies including Night Flowers in 1979,[4] which he wrote and co-produced. The film received the ecumenical award at the Montreal World Film Festival in 1979.[5] Heaven's Gate 1981; The returning 1983 and featured in TV series Wild Wild West in 1970.[6]

Plays

The author wrote several plays including "The Brandy Dancers" in 1978 and "Hearts" which was produced by Eric Morris Theatre in LA.

Books

In 2012, Gabriel Walsh's memoirs "Maggie's Breakfast", published by Poolbeg Publishing, about his "life-changing" encounter with Margaret Burke Sheridan, joined the best seller list. The book recounts his up-bringing in Dublin in 1940s and 1950s as one of ten children to the moment he departs to New York, barely literate, to live and be educated by his new guardians, Wall Street economists and investors, Emerson and Ruth Houghton Axe.[7] The book's sequel "I Dream Alone", which covers the young boy's life at the Axe Castle in Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York, was published in 2013.[8]

References
Notes
  1. John Spain (4 February 2012). "How breakfast at the Shelbourne changed this poor Dublin boy's life". Independent.ie. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  2. "Gabriel Walsh Filmography". nytimes.com. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  3. Vincent Canby (14 July 1970). "Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx". nytimes.com. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  4. "Night Flowers". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  5. "Night Flowers". IMDb. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  6. "The Wild Wild West". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  7. Sue Leonard (25 February 2012). "Beginners Pluck". Independent.ie. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  8. Penny Singer (8 November 1987). "The view from Axe Castle: Optimistic". nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
Sources

Works
  • Maggie's Breakfast (Poolbeg Publishing) 25 January 2012 (ISBN 9781842235256)
  • I Dream Alone (Poolbeg Publishing) 2013 (ISBN 9781842235393)
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