Biography Of Stars

Chronicle (Levin), 21 February 1948, Page 6

Biography Of Stars

.11 Siobhan McKenha, an arresting young actress from Ireland, is headed for a big future in British films. Siobhan McKenna — that first name is pronounced ShuVaun — is 5 ft. 5 ins. tall, a clear.kinne'd girl with long, grey eyes, a pointed elfin face, a whole -lot of clark hair, not noticeably tidy, and the slightly gamin look of a girl who dp^s not mind what clothes she wears. She lacks glamour, glitter shine, and polish, in fact, all the qualities which qre supposed to be necessary for a potential. movie star. But Siobhan, aged 24, has a whole lot of things which many an i'aspiring young glamour puss around British studios would like to possess. One, for instance, is a contract which promises her £50,000 for 16 weeks' work, interpreting the difficult lea'ding role in "Daughter of Darkness." Another is a capacity for acting that convinces anyone who sees her perform that she has the thing, which marks her as a potential great actress. People who like to try spotting winners in movies probably noticecl girl in "Hungry.Hill," in which she played the slatternly *peasant girl, Kate, with a brooding sex appeal. The' character is so unlike own naive, serious personality to be in itself a testament to an unusual gift. Her present part makes everi more calls on her. She is to be a fey servant girl who murders from an innef conviction of the righteousness of her actions. To make full use of Siobhan's accent, the character has been altered from a Welsh to an Irish girb

Early in 1946, when Brian Des•mond Hurst was asking for Irish players to fi.ll subsidiary roles in "Hungry Hill," Siobhan was inspected, and without even the formality of a screen test, was packed over to England to work for a month at Denham Studios. Then she went back to Dublin, marrie'd Denis O'Dea (remember him as the police officer in ,"Odd Man Out''?), and honeymooned in Europe. / . » After seeing "Hungry Hill" producers' offers began to seep across the Irish Channel. It was Victor Hanbury who got in first, negotlated with her to play in "Daughter of Darkness." Now Hollywood is inquiring too — the most interesting offer coming from James Cagney who wants her for "A Lion in the Streets." What she will decide is uncertain; what she wants to do is to take a holiday with her husband. . These two are powerful .combinations, artistically. They have often played together on 1 the stage an'd their careers are happily running1 parallel — Denis has been working on "The Mark of Cain" at the Denham Studios. Siobham is the niece of Monsignor James . McKenna, of New South Wales. ' j