George Chakiris

Chakiris has also appeared on Broadway and television, and in the early 1960s embarked on a career as a pop singer which resulted in a couple of minor hit songs. His sons, Paul and Pádraig, work as a producer with RTÉ and in computers, respectively. His biggest success came with the film West Side Story (1961), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His four daughters, Niamh, Sorcha, Sinéad and Catherine are actresses. He was one of the dancers in Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and also appeared as a dancer alongside Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas. Cusack's last stage performance was in Chekhov's The Three Sisters, in which three of his daughters played the sisters. Chakiris made his film debut in 1947 and for several years he appeared in small roles, usually as a dancer or a member of the chorus in various musical films. In 1989 his performance in the film My Left Foot, with Daniel Day-Lewis, contributed to its success.

George Chakiris (born September 16, 1934 in Norwood, Ohio) is a dancer and film actor. In 1984 he appeared as the shop-keeper and Thought Police spy Charrington in the film version of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. He received honorary doctorates in 1977 and 1980 from the NUI and the University of Dublin respectively. Two years later in 1979 he married Mary Rose Cunningham. In 1977 Cusack's wife, Maureen Kiely, an actress, died.

By this stage he had established a successful career in films. In 1963 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and appeared there for several seasons. In 1947 Cusack formed his own company and staged productions in Dublin, Paris and New York City. Between then and 1945 he performed in over sixty productions, particularly excelling in the plays of Sean O'Casey.

He left without a degree and joined the Abbey Theatre in 1932. Cusack was educated in Newbridge, Kildare, and University College, Dublin. Cyril made his first stage performance at the age of seven. Cusack's mother and her partner, Breifne O'Rorke, joined the O'Brien and Ireland Players.

His parents separated when he was young and his mother took him to England, and then to Ireland. He was the son of a sergeant in the mounted police and an actress. Cyril Cusack (26 November 1910 - 7 October 1993) was an Irish actor, born in Natal, South Africa.