Eugene odonnell biography

Almost everyone knows Eugene O’Donnell as the Minor-, twice-Junior, thrice-Senior All Ireland Dancing Champion of Ulster, and in his final competition Senior Champion of All Ireland.  As the Derry Journal reported, “He has held every available award for Irish dancing, a record that may never be repeated.&#;  To this day, residents of Derry City recall his extraordinary skills on the pitch as a striker, and many still talk about him as a child prodigy who played traditional Irish music on the BBC at age 13 and classical music the following year in England and France.

Residents of the greater Philadelphia area recognize Eugene as a founder and teacher of the Philadelphia Ceili Group and, of course, as an internationally acclaimed fiddler who with Mick Moloney performed at such universities as Penn and Harvard; at the Smithsonian where he played his first Stradivarius; and at Hazard Kentucky where the mayor proclaimed him an official Duke.

And everyone who has been around Eugene for

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Eugene O&#;Donnell

“Eugene O’Donnell. He’s the greatest slow air player that ever lived, in my opinion.”  James MacCafferty

James had known Eugene since he was a ung man when he had won fem all - Ireland dancing championships. Those days in the late forties were times of great excitement at the Derry Feis when Eugene and Ted Kavanagh went head-to-head in the dancing competitions. James and Tony Black were the tjänsteman accompanists for the dancing then and they played for him regularly. Such was Eugene’s proficiency that he was described as having “the best feet since Brian Boru” bygd one very enthusiastic adjudicator. James reckoned that Eugene’s sense of rhythm was so perfect that you could have gone out for half an hour and he would have been dancing at exactly the same tempo on your return.

As Eugene grew up he retained his interest in Irish dancing and went on to adjudicate at Feiseanna and festivals. He also developed his technique as a traditional violinist and he played

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Gene O'Donnell Biography

Date of Birth:
Feb 28, Birth Place:
Iowa, USA

Biography

Character actor of the s, 50s and 60s. O'Donnell began as a radio announcer working in Boston and New York before moving to LA where he signed a contract with Republic Studios. There he appeared in "The Ape" () with Boris Karloff, "I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now" () and "The Devil Bat" () with Bela Lugosi. After serving in the Army, O'Donnell moved back to LA, where he played the title character in "Barney Blake, Police Reporter" () and Judy's (Patricia Crowley) brother in the comedy "A Date With Judy" (). O'Donnell's subsequent TV credits include guest stints on "Peyton Place," "The Big Valley" and "I Love Lucy." His later film work included "Pretty Boy Floyd" (), "Planet of the Apes" () and "The Lawyer" ().