Stage Donnelly got his start in an amateur group calling itself the Globe theatre Players. It was organised and run by Jim Fitzgerald and Monica Brophy. He then later toured with
Anew McMaster's Irish repertory company before moving to England where he starred with
Rita Tushingham in the film
The Knack ...and How to Get It. His breakthrough role came when he was cast as Gar Private in the world premiere of
Brian Friel's
Philadelphia, Here I Come! directed by
Hilton Edwards for the
Gate Theatre at the
Dublin Theatre Festival in 1964. The production subsequently transferred to Broadway where it played for over 300 performances and established Donnelly and
Patrick Bedford – who played his alter-ego Gar Public – as formidable new talents to be reckoned with. They were jointly nominated for the
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play in 1966. Donnelly returned to Broadway a number of times, replacing
Albert Finney in
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg in 1968, playing Milo Tindle in
Anthony Shaffer's
Sleuth and appearing as
Frederick Treves opposite
David Bowie as
The Elephant Man. He also renewed his relationship with
Brian Friel, appearing in the world premieres of
Volunteers at the
Abbey Theatre in 1975 and
Faith Healer with
James Mason (
Longacre Theatre, NYC) in 1979 as well as the Broadway premieres of
Dancing at Lughnasa in 1991 and
Translations in 1995. .
Gate Theatre, Dublin. 1956. For many years, he toured a one-man performance of the writings of
George Bernard Shaw, adapted and directed by
Michael Voysey and entitled
My Astonishing Self.
Film and TV His film roles included Archbishop Gilday in
The Godfather Part III and he gained particular acclaim for his performance as Freddy Malins in
John Huston's final work,
The Dead, based on
the short story by
James Joyce. Coppola had wanted Donnelly for the role of Og in his 1968 film version of
Finian's Rainbow -
Tommy Steele eventually filling the role. On television, he played the lead role of Matthew Browne in the 1970s ITV sitcom
Yes Honestly, opposite
Liza Goddard. But from the late 1950s onwards, he often appeared in such British TV programs as
The Avengers,
Z Cars and
The Wednesday Play. == Other work ==