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Joseph Sweeney (actor)

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Joseph Sweeney
Sweeney in 12 Angry Men, 1957
Born(1884-07-26)July 26, 1884
DiedNovember 25, 1963(1963-11-25) (aged 79)
OccupationActor
Years active1918–1963

Joseph Sweeney (July 26, 1884[a] – November 25, 1963) was an American actor who worked in stage productions, television and movies principally in the 1950s, often playing grandfatherly roles.[1] His best-known role was as the elderly Juror #9 in the 1957 classic 12 Angry Men,[2] the role he originated in a 1954 Westinghouse Studio One live teleplay of which the film was an adaptation.

Stage career

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Born in Philadelphia on 26 July 1884, he raised in a rooming house in the same place with W. C. Fields.[1] In 1910 he started on an acting career and moved to Broadway, being fully active on-stage and making tours along United States.[1] Sweeney debuted on stage in stock theater with a company in Norwich, Connecticut.[3] He had a successful career as a stage performer in such productions as The Clansmen, George Washington Slept Here, Ladies and Gentlemen, A Slight Case of Murder, Dear Old Darlin, and Days To Remember.[1] In the 1940s, he made the switch to television as audiences' interests changed.[2] He returned to the stage in 1953 to portray Giles Corey in Arthur Miller's The Crucible.[4]

In 1949 he was a regular on the CBS series Wesley, and between 1950 and 1960 he appeared in leading and supporting roles and in installments of Lights Out, Kraft Television Theatre, Philco Television Playhouse, Campbell Television Soundstage, Studio One, Producers' Showcase, Playwrights '56, The U.S. Steel Hour, The Defenders, Car 54, Where Are You?, and Dr. Kildare.[1]

His most important performance in television was Twelve Angry Men (1954), by Reginald Rose, who played Juror Mr. McCardle, and later repeated the role in Sidney Lumet film adaption alongside Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb and Jack Warden.[1] He also played crafty and villainous roles, such as the larcenous former household employee in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) or The Fastest Gun Alive (1956).[1]

Later life

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Sweeney kept a busy active acting until the time of his death on 25 November 1963 at the age of 79, appearing in numerous television shows and programmes that year alone, including at least in more than a dozen during the last year of his life.[1][2]

Filmography

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Television

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Year(s) Title Role Notes
1949 Wesley Wesley's Grandfather
1952 Studio One Dr. Wall "Plan for Escape" (TV episode)
1953 Studio One "Music and Mrs. Pratt" (TV episode)
1954 Studio One Juror No. 9 "Twelve Angry Men" (TV episode)
1954 Studio One Janitor "12:32 A.M." (TV episode)
1955 Studio One Father Durand "Summer Pavilion" (TV episode)
1955 Studio One Charlie "A Terrible Day" (TV episode)
1955 Studio One Vernon "The Prince and the Puppet" (TV episode)
1955 Studio One Mr. Sweeney "Three Empty Rooms" (TV episode)
1956 Studio One Charlie "A Man's World" (TV episode)
1961 Naked City Jacob S. Moreland Season 3 Episode 12 - Bridge Party
1963 Car 54, Where Are You? The Judge / A.E. Van Cleve / Jim McNaughton 4 Episodes

Films

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Year Title Role Notes
1918 Sylvia on a Spree A Pal of Jack's
1936 Soak the Rich Capt. Pettijohn, 1st detective
1940 The Philadelphia Story Butler (uncredited)
1950 Outside the Wall Prison Hospital Inmate (uncredited)
1956 The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Edward M. Schultz
1956 The Fastest Gun Alive Reverend
1957 12 Angry Men Juror No. 9 / McCardle

Notes

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  1. ^ other sources state 1882.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Eder, Bruce. "Joseph Sweeney". All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 12 October 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2024 – via New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c "Biography of Joseph Sweeney". Fandango. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Joseph Sweeney Finds Joy In Role of Villain". Times Union. New York, Brooklyn. May 6, 1928. p. 28. Retrieved November 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ The Crucible, Bantam Book edition, 1959 at page xiii
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