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Shay Duffin
★ Acting

Shay Duffin

1931 – 2010 · Dublin, Ireland · Active 1975–2007

Shay Duffin, born in 1931 in Ireland, is best remembered for his role in Leprechaun (1993), where he showcased his talent for embodying eccentric characters. With a career that spanned decades, Duffin's performances often added a layer of depth to the films he appeared in, making him a memorable presence in the world of cult cinema. His work in Leprechaun exemplifies his ability to navigate the quirky and darkly humorous aspects of the genre, solidifying his place in the hearts of genre fans.

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Leprechaun

Leprechaun

1993 ★ 4.8
as O'Grady

In 1983, Dan O'Grady returns to his home in North Dakota from a trip to his native Ireland, where he stole the pot of gold from a leprechaun. After burying the gold, O'Grady discovers that the evil leprechaun has followed him home and murdered his wife. O'Grady uses a four-leaf clover to suppress the leprechaun's powers and trap him inside a crate. Before he can burn him, he suffers a stroke. Ten years later, J. D. Redding and his teenage daughter Tory rent the O'Grady farmhouse for the summer. Contract workers Nathan Murphy, his 10-year-old brother Alex, and their dimwitted friend Ozzie Jones help re-paint the farmhouse. While looking around the basement, Ozzie hears the leprechaun's cry for help and mistakes him for a little child. He brushes the old four-leaf clover off the crate, freeing the leprechaun. After failing to convince the others that he met a leprechaun, Ozzie spots a rainbow and chases it, believing that he will find a pot of gold at the end. Alex accompanies him for fear that Ozzie might hurt himself. A bag of one hundred gold coins magically appears before Ozzie. After Ozzie tests the gold and accidentally swallows a coin, they stash it in an old well and plot to keep it for themselves, hoping to fix Ozzie's brain. At the farm, the leprechaun lures J. D. into a trap by imitating a cat, biting and injuring his hand. Tory and the others rush him to the hospital, and the leprechaun follows on a tricycle. Alex and Ozzie visit a pawn shop to see if the gold is pure, and the leprechaun kills Joe the shop owner for stealing his gold. The leprechaun returns to the farmhouse, where he searches for his gold and shines every shoe that he finds. After leaving J. D. at the hospital, the group drives back to the farmhouse. Finding it ransacked, Nathan checks outside, where he is injured by a bear trap set by the leprechaun. After finding a shotgun in the farmhouse, they shoot the leprechaun several times. When this has no effect, they attempt to flee the farm, but their truck's engine has been sabotaged by the leprechaun. After ramming the truck with a go-kart, the leprechaun terrorizes the group until Ozzie reveals that he and Alex found the pot of gold. Tory recovers the bag from the well and gives it to the leprechaun. Believing the worst to be over, they leave for the hospital. While counting his gold, the leprechaun discovers that he is missing the last coin that Ozzie swallowed. Thinking that they have tricked him, he menaces them until Ozzie tells them about O'Grady, who was taken to a nursing home after his stroke. Tory visits the home to learn how to kill the leprechaun. At the nursing home, the leprechaun pretends to be O'Grady. After he chases Tory to an elevator, the leprechaun throws O'Grady's bloodied body down the shaft as Tory flees. Before dying, O'Grady tells her that the only way to kill the leprechaun is with a four-leaf clover. Tory returns to the farmhouse, where she searches for a clover until she is attacked by the leprechaun; Nathan and Ozzie save her. Ozzie reveals that he swallowed the last gold coin, and the leprechaun critically wounds him trying to get it. Before the leprechaun can kill Ozzie, Alex takes a four-leaf clover Tory has found, sticks it to a wad of gum, and shoots it into the leprechaun's mouth, causing him to melt away. The leprechaun falls into the well, but his skeleton climbs out. Nathan pushes the leprechaun back into the well and blows up both the well and the leprechaun with gasoline. The authorities arrive, and Tory is reunited with her father. As the cops investigate the remains of the well, the leprechaun vows he will not rest until he recovers every last piece of his gold.  Dan O'Grady steals 100 gold coins from a leprechaun while on vacation in Ireland. The leprechaun follows him home, but Dan locks the leprechaun in a crate, held at bay by a four-leaf clover. Ten years later, the leprechaun is accidentally released and goes on a murderous rampage to reclaim the stolen gold.

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Career Highlights Top 6 by popularity · TMDB

Filmography

30 credits
2000s 2 credits
2007
Beowulf as Scylding's Watch
Movie ★ 5.9
2006
The Departed as Bartender at Brasserie
Movie ★ 8.2
1990s 9 credits
1997
Titanic as Pubkeeper
Movie ★ 7.9
1996
Head Above Water as Police Officer
Movie ★ 6.0
1996
Movie ★ 5.4
1994
Due South as Father Behan
TV ★ 7.6
1993
Leprechaun as O'Grady
Movie ★ 5.6
1992
The Public Eye as Chief of Police
Movie ★ 6.2
1992
Newsies as Captain McSwain
Movie ★ 6.7
1992
Memoirs of an Invisible Man as Patrick the Bartender
Movie ★ 5.9
1990
TV ★ 9.0
1980s 7 credits
1987
TV ★ 8.4
1985
Movie
1984
Murder, She Wrote as Brian Mulrain
TV ★ 7.5
1983
Movie ★ 6.2
1982
TV ★ 7.0
1980
Raging Bull as Ring Announcer (Janiro Fight)
Movie ★ 7.9
1980
Movie ★ 5.7
1970s 12 credits
1979
Movie ★ 4.3
1979
Marciano as Ring Announcer
Movie ★ 7.0
1979
The Main Event as Fight Announcer
Movie ★ 5.3
1979
The Frisco Kid as O'Leary
Movie ★ 6.1
1979
Movie ★ 5.1
1978
Bloodbrothers as Banion's Bar Man #5
Movie ★ 5.8
1978
Movie ★ 7.7
1977
Movie ★ 6.4
1977
The White Buffalo as Tim Brady
Movie ★ 6.0
1977
Captains Courageous as Chief Steward
Movie ★ 7.0
1976
Law and Order as Undertaker
Movie ★ 8.0
1975
Switch as Father Gorman
TV ★ 6.7