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Jack Casey
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born:
15 August 1886 Loughglynn, County Roscommon, Ireland |
died:
30 August 1956 Los Angeles, California, United States of America (cerebral hemorrhage, age 70) |
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Irish-born actor and makeup artist who worked in both capacities for the Hal Roach Studios, serving as head of the Roach makeup department during the mid-late 1930s. His parents were Bridget (Lynch) and Michael Casey. Jack had at least three siblings: Michael John Casey (1880-1969), Thomas/Den(n)is Joseph Casey (middle name also given as Daniel, 1879/80/84-1962), and Bridget (Casey) Giblin (b. ca. 1889). He immigrated to the United States from Queenstown, Ireland, boarding the S.S. Lucania on 29 April 1906, and arriving in New York on 4 May 1906. Jack initially filed a declaration of intention to become a U.S. citizen in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on 8 May 1908, and per the 1920 U.S. Census became naturalized in 1911; however, he later filed another declaration of intention in Los Angeles on 24 April 1939, followed by a petition for naturalization on 27 May 1942, finally becoming naturalized there on 10 July 1942. His death certificate suggests he arrived in California around 1910. In the late 1910s and early 1920s, he was a special officer for a railroad company. His Los Angeles Times obituary refers to him as "a movie stuntman and make-up artist since 1916 . . ." Interestingly, various 1923-1925 issues of The Standard Casting Directory, in sections classifying various "types" of performers, list Casey as an acrobat. (And it is indeed the same Jack Casey as "ours," as the phone number given -- CA pitol 1661 -- can be traced through "Kelts' Geographical Directory: Los Angeles, September, 1927, Vol. 1" to J J Casey, living at 578 Amethyst, the same address Jack is living at in Los Angeles City Directories and in the 1930 Census.) A 1937 Los Angeles Times article on a surprisingly healthy number of silent slapstick comedians who turned to providing movie makeup mentions, "Jack Casey, once a funny man for Hal Roach, who now helps his successors at the same studio to look comical." He was married to Jean (b. Jane Browne, 1889-1965), who was also Irish-born and is also listed as a makeup artist in the 1950 Census; they wed on 26 April 1912 in Cleveland, Ohio. Jack's Variety death notice says he succumbed to a heart attack, but his death certificate reveals he died from a cerebral hemorrhage at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California, as would Jean after her passing over eight years later. Both his 1908 and 1939 declarations of intention and his World War I draft registration card give his year of birth as 1886, while his World War II draft registration card and his death certificate say 1888. The 1901 Ireland Census, currently the earliest findable record for Casey, gives his age as 15, so I'm leaning towards 1886 (or -- since the Census was taken in March, before Casey's August birthday -- maybe even 1885) until further evidence emerges supporting or otherwise. |
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Real name: John Joseph Casey Height: 6'0" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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