MacLiammóir, Micheál << muhk LEE uh moor, mee HAWL >> (1899-1978), was an English-born Irish actor, playwright, designer, and director. With the English-born actor Hilton Edwards, he founded the Gate Theatre, in Dublin, Ireland, in 1928. MacLiammóir acted in, designed, and directed about 300 plays for the Gate. He also acted in the United States, making his Broadway debut in 1948. In the 1960’s, MacLiammóir performed a one-man dramatic presentation of the life and works of the Irish-born author Oscar Wilde, called The Importance of Being Oscar.
MacLiammóir was born Alfred Willmore on Oct. 25, 1899, in London. He first performed on the stage as a child and made his acting debut in London in 1911. Willmore studied painting in London in 1915 and 1916 and in continental Europe from 1921 to 1927. When he reached Ireland, he became fascinated with Celtic culture and the Irish Gaelic language. He adopted the name Micheál MacLiammóir; claimed to have been born in Cork, Ireland; and described himself as Irish after that time. MacLiammóir wrote many books of fiction and nonfiction, several of them in Irish Gaelic. They include All for Hecuba: An Irish Theatrical Autobiography (1946, revised 1961). MacLiammóir died in Dublin on March 6, 1978.
