Stephen McNally (born Horace Vincent McNally; July 29, 1911 – June 4, 1994) was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many Westerns and action films. His dark features often cast him as hard-hearted characters, criminals, bullies, and other villains.

Early years

Stephen McNally was born Horace McNally in New York City. McNally attended Fordham University School of Law and was an attorney in the late 1930s before he pursued his passion for acting.

Career

He started his stage career using his real name, Horace McNally. He was signed by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

in 1942 and cast in supporting roles. His first juvenile lead was as a newspaper editor in the

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

comedy '' Air Raid Wardens'' (1943). He remained with MGM, always billed as Horace McNally, until 1946. In 1948, he changed his stage name to Stephen McNally (taking the name of his then-2-year-old son) and signed with Warner Bros. He played the villainous Locky McCormick in the film version of '' Johnny Belinda'' (1948). (He had played Dr. Richardson in the Broadway stage version, in 1940.) He appeared in '' Winchester '73'' (1950) and co-starred in '' Criss Cross'' (1949). Notable 1950s films included '' No Way Out'' (1950), '' Split Second'' (1953), '' Violent Saturday'' (1955) and '' Johnny Rocco'' (1958). McNally was cast in three episodes of the ABC religion

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

'' Crossroads''. He portrayed Monsigneur Harold Engle in "Ringside Padre" (1956) and Father Flanagan of the Boys Town orphanage in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

in "Convict 1321, Age 21" (1957). In between, he was cast as

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

George S. Patton, in "The Patton Prayer" (also 1957). McNally also appeared in the episode " Specimen: Unknown" from the anthology series '' The Outer Limits''. He co-starred on the 1958 episode, "The Ben Courtney Story" on '' Wagon Train'' as a former Union soldier turned sheriff. In 1959, he portrayed Clay Thompson, a bounty hunter, with Myron Healey as a sheriff, in the CBS Western series, '' The Texan''. In the 1960 episode "The Mormons" on the CBS Western, '' Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' McNally played Matt Rowland, who tries to block a wagon train of

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

from entering his town, as they are suspected of carrying

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

. Things change quickly, when Rowland's son, Tod ( Mark Goddard), becomes interested in a young lady on the train, Beth Lawson ( Tuesday Weld). In 1967, he started as Dal Neely, a murderous outlaw who tries to take his daughter away with him in the (S12E23) episode "The Lure" on ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

''. In 1971, he appeared as Gus Muller in "The Men From Shiloh" (rebranded name for the TV Western '' The Virginian'') in the episode titled "The Angus Killer". During the 1970s, McNally guest starred on television programs such as '' Fantasy Island'', '' Starsky & Hutch'', '' Charlie's Angels'', '' The Rockford Files'', and '' Police Story''.

Death

McNally died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

June 4, 1994, at age 82, at his home in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

. He and his wife, Rita, had eight children.

Partial filmography

* '' Grand Central Murder'' (1942) – 'Turk' * '' The War Against Mrs. Hadley'' (1942) – Peters * '' Eyes in the Night'' (1942) – Gabriel Hoffman * '' For Me and My Gal'' (1942) – Mr. Waring * '' Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant'' (1942) – Howard Allwinn Young * '' Keeper of the Flame'' (1942) – Freddie Ridges * '' Air Raid Wardens'' (1943) – Dan Madison * '' The Man from Down Under'' (1943) – 'Dusty' Rhodes * '' An American Romance'' (1944) – Teddy Roosevelt Dangos / Narrator * '' Thirty Seconds over Tokyo'' (1944) – 'Doc' White * '' Dangerous Partners'' (1945) – Co-pilot * '' Bewitched'' (1945) – Eric Russell * '' The Harvey Girls'' (1946) – 'Goldust' McClean * '' Up Goes Maisie'' (1946) – Tim Kingby * '' Magnificent Doll'' (1946) – John Todd * '' Johnny Belinda'' (1948) – Locky McCormick * '' Rogues' Regiment'' (1948) – Carl Reicher * '' Criss Cross'' (1949) – Pete Ramirez * '' City Across the River'' (1949) – Stan Albert * '' The Lady Gambles'' (1949) – Horace Corrigan * '' Sword in the Desert'' (1949) – David Vogel * '' Woman in Hiding'' (1950) – Selden Clark IV * '' Winchester '73'' (1950) – Dutch Henry Brown * '' No Way Out'' (1950) – Dr. Dan Wharton * '' Wyoming Mail'' (1950) – Steve Davis * '' Air Cadet'' (1951) – Major Jack Page * '' Apache Drums'' (1951) – Sam Leeds * ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

'' (1951) – George Mason * '' The Lady Pays Off'' (1951) – Matt Braddock * '' The Raging Tide'' (1951) – Lieutenant Kelsey * ''

Diplomatic Courier A diplomatic courier is an official who secures and transports diplomatic bags. Countries have utilized diplomatic couriers to handle important documents, artifacts and supplies between different countries since the 12th century. Following the ...

'' (1952) – Colonel Mark Cagle * '' The Duel at Silver Creek'' (1952) – Marshal Lightning Tyrone * '' Battle Zone'' (1952) – Sergeant Mitch Turner * '' The Black Castle'' (1952) – Count Karl von Bruno * '' Split Second'' (1953) – Sam Hurley * '' The Stand at Apache River'' (1953) – Lane Dakota * '' Devil's Canyon'' (1953) – Jessie Gorman * '' Make Haste to Live'' (1954) – Steve Blackford * '' A Bullet Is Waiting'' (1954) – Sheriff Munson * ''

The Man from Bitter Ridge ''The Man from Bitter Ridge'' is a 1955 American Western (genre), Western film directed by Jack Arnold (director), Jack Arnold and starring Lex Barker, Mara Corday and Stephen McNally. Plot A special investigator, Jeff Carr (Lex Barker), is depl ...

'' (1955) – Alec Black * '' Violent Saturday'' (1955) – Harper (bank robber) * '' Tribute to a Bad Man'' (1956) – McNulty * '' Hell's Crossroads'' (1957) – Victor 'Vic' Rodell * '' Hell's Five Hours'' (1958) – Mike Brand * '' The Fiend Who Walked the West'' (1958) – Marshal Frank Emmett * '' Johnny Rocco'' (1958) – Tony Rocco * '' Hell Bent for Leather'' (1960) – Deckett * '' Requiem for a Gunfighter'' (1965) – Red Zimmer * '' Panic in the City'' (1968) – James Kincade * '' Once You Kiss a Stranger'' (1970) – Police Lieutenant Tom Gavin * '' Black Gunn'' (1972) – Laurento * '' The Lives of Jenny Dolan'' (1975, TV movie) – Lieutenant Nesbitt * '' Hi-Riders'' (1978) – Mr. Lewis

Radio appearances

Television

References

External links

* * (as Horace McNally) * {{DEFAULTSORT:McNally, Stephen 1911 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American male actors American Roman Catholics American male film actors American male television actors Male Western (genre) film actors Male actors from New York City Western (genre) television actors