User:Woodssteph/sandbox

Career

Carlingford, Ireland. Location of the film 'Blarney'.

Harry O Donovan was an Irish paywrite and actor. He is known for writing many plays including “irelnads boarderline” (1938), “penny paradise” (1938) and “jimmy boy” (1935). He performed in many plays, pantomimes and sketches. He wrote scripts for radio Eireann and had a love for theatre and the art of acting. In an interview this RTE he makes this very clear and also showed the type of man and actor he was.He first encountered Jimmy O’dea iin 1924 and continued to work along side him in the coming years. He became the business and stage manager for O’Dea. He and Jimmy co-founded O’D Productions. The friends concluded they had no need for a legal contact and continued with O’D productons until O’dea’s death in 1965. O'D Productions was a massive success with their first show 'We're Here' took in 700 pound in the first week.Through O’D productions, O’Dea’s favourite role ‘Biddy Mulligan” was born.Their best-selling second record ‘Sixpence each way’, was a series of comedy sketches, featuring Biddy Mulligan, a droll, sharp-tongued, elderly Dublin street-trader.it is this character that lead to a large proportion of O'Dea's success. O’D productions had members such as Vernon Hayden and Jim Johnson. they produced many successful films. In 1937, one of their more successful films was released, 'Blarney'; written and directed by O'Donovan and shot on location in Carlingford and Greenore. it was released in the savoy theatre on O'Connell street.

Along with the plays and films harry wrote and directed, he was also a songwriter and singer. He wrote many songs including, “the vamp of "inchicore”, “rathgar” “the charladies ball” and “daffodil mulligan”. And of course, he recorded songs along side Jimmy O’Dea, many of these songs corrispondig with the role of Biddy Mulligan which O’Dea made infamous. After O'Dea's death, O'Donovan stopped writing and ended his career as he chose to retire.