John Benjamin Ireland was born on January 30, 1914, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and grew up in New York City. He was a Canadian-American actor and film director who became well-known for his supporting roles in popular Western films. These films include My Darling Clementine (1946), Red River (1948), Vengeance Valley (1951), and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). He received an Oscar nomination for his role as Jack Burden in All the King's Men (1949), which made him the first actor born in British Columbia to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Ireland appeared in many other films, such as A Walk in the Sun (1945), Joan of Arc (1948), Spartacus (1960), 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), The Adventurers (1970), and Farewell, My Lovely (1975). He also acted in television shows, including The Cheaters (1960–62). In the late 1960s and 1970s, he worked in Italian films, such as the Spaghetti Western Run, Man, Run (1968), the giallo film One on Top of the Other (1969), and the war drama Salon Kitty (1976).
In 1960, Ireland received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television.
Early life
Ireland was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on January 30, 1914. He lived in New York City from a very young age. His formal education ended after the 7th grade, and he worked to help support his family.
Ireland never met his biological father. His mother, Gracie Ferguson, was a Scottish piano teacher who later married Michael Noone, an Irish actor and performer. They had three children: a daughter named Kathryn, a son named Thomas (who later became the actor-comedian Tommy Noonan), and another son named Michael. The family used the last name Noone, but Ireland was never certain where his last name came from.
Ireland was a swimmer and once competed against Johnny Weissmuller. He performed underwater stunts at a carnival and worked as a barker. One of his jobs involved wrestling a dead octopus at a water carnival.
Career
One day, he was walking near the Davenport Free Theater in Manhattan. He entered, thinking it offered a free show, but instead received free training. He slept in a dressing room and was paid one dollar each day to work backstage while practicing his lines.
In 1941, he made his Broadway debut in a play called Macbeth with actors Maurice Evans and Judith Anderson. He later appeared in other Broadway plays.
Ireland signed with 20th Century Fox and made his first movie appearance as Private Windy, a thoughtful soldier who writes letters, in the 1945 war film A Walk in the Sun, directed by Lewis Milestone.
He later appeared in Wake Up and Dream (1946), Behind Green Lights (1946) with Carole Landis, and It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1946), again with Landis. He played Billy Clanton in John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946).
Ireland had his first main role in Railroaded! (1947), directed by Anthony Mann for Eagle-Lion. He later took supporting parts in The Gangster (1947) for the King Brothers and I Love Trouble (1948) for Columbia.
He played the main character in Open Secret (1948) for Eagle-Lion, then took a supporting role in Anthony Mann’s classic noir film Raw Deal (1948).
Ireland had an important supporting role in Howard Hawks’ 1948 film Red River as the gunslinger Cherry Valance. However, Hawks reduced his part after becoming frustrated with the actor. Ireland also played an army captain in the film Joan of Arc (1948), starring Ingrid Bergman.
In April 1948, Ireland signed a contract with Columbia Pictures for $500 a week, which increased to $1,500 a week. He was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jack Burden, a newspaper reporter who changes from a loyal supporter to a critic of a corrupt leader (played by Broderick Crawford) in All the King's Men (1949). This made him the first actor born in Vancouver to receive an Academy Award nomination.
Ireland played a cynical reporter named Henry "Early" Byrd in the quirky movie Mr. Soft Touch (1949), starring Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes. He also appeared as Bob Ford in the low-budget film I Shot Jesse James (1949), the first movie directed by Sam Fuller. He played a villain in the Western Roughshod (1949) and a love rival for Paulette Goddard in Anna Lucasta (1949).
In December 1949, Columbia suspended Ireland after he left the set of One Way Out (later released as Convicted) after filming one scene. He sued the studio and eventually agreed to give Columbia 25% of his earnings for the next five years to end their contract.
Lippert Pictures gave Ireland the lead role in The Return of Jesse James (1950). He also appeared in Vengeance Valley (1951) with his then-wife, Joanne Dru.
During the early 1950s, Ireland successfully sued two television producers for breaking their contracts and making false accusations about him. He claimed they refused to give him roles because they thought he had political views they disliked, including a lead role in a TV series called The Adventures of Ellery McQueen. He received a large but unannounced cash payment.
Ireland played the main character in several low-budget films, including The Basketball Fix (1951), The Scarf (1951), Little Big Horn (1951), The Bushwackers (1952), and Hannah Lee (1953) with his wife. He co-directed the latter film, which led to a lawsuit against the producers.
He traveled to England to film The Good Die Young (1954) and supported his wife in Southwest Passage (1954) and Queen Bee (1955), starring Joan Crawford. He played the main character in the British thriller The Glass Cage (1955) and the war film Hell's Horizon (1955). He also acted in Gunslinger (1956), directed by Roger Corman.
In July 1955, Ireland signed a contract with Revue to act and direct films for television. In January 1956, he was cast as the main character in the TV series Port of Call.
Ireland appeared as Johnny Ringo in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) and played a mobster in Party Girl (1958). He played the main character in No Place to Land (1958) and Stormy Crossing (1958).
In 1959, Ireland played Chris Slade in an episode of the NBC Western series Riverboat. In the story, a corrupt leader blocks farmers from selling their crops, and a lynch mob attacks the main character. Karl Swenson also appeared in this episode.
John Ireland directed the Western Hannah Lee, co-directing with Lee Garmes. He also co-directed The Bushwackers (1952).
In 1986, he starred in Thunder Run, an American action-th
Personal life
Ireland's name sometimes appeared in newspapers during the time, linked to younger actresses such as Natalie Wood, Barbara Payton, and Sue Lyon. He caused controversy by dating 16-year-old actress Tuesday Weld when he was 45 years old. Ireland also had an affair with co-star Joan Crawford while filming the movie Queen Bee (1955). A decade later, Ireland and Crawford acted together again in William Castle's film I Saw What You Did.
He was married three times. His first wife, Elaine Sheldon, was married to him from 1940 to 1949. They had two sons, John and Peter.
From 1949 to 1957, he was married to actress Joanne Dru. Her younger brother, entertainer Peter Marshall, was originally known for his comedy act with Ireland's half-brother, Tommy Noonan. In July 1956, Dru was hospitalized with a black eye, which she claimed was accidental but was widely believed to have been caused by Ireland. Ireland was later hospitalized for taking an overdose of barbiturates.
When the couple divorced in 1957, they had over $50,000 in debts.
From 1962 until his death, Ireland was married to Daphne Myrick Cameron. They had a daughter named Daphne and a son named Cameron. He had four grandchildren: Pete, Melissa, Jack, and Helios.
In his later years, he owned a restaurant called Ireland's in Santa Barbara, California. A skilled chef, he often worked in the kitchen and created a stew called Ireland Stew, using whatever ingredients were available each night. He also frequently visited the restaurant's bar, greeting customers and buying drinks for friends.
The restaurant eventually failed. In May 1977, Ireland declared bankruptcy.
On March 21, 1992, Ireland died in Santa Barbara, California, from leukemia at the age of 78. He is buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.
For his contributions to television, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1610 Vine Street.