Catholics on Stage: Arnold Daly (1875-1927)

Born Peter Christopher Arnold Daly to Irish parents, the young man grew up in Brooklyn, where he attended Sacred Heart Academy in Fort Greene, a school long since closed. After the death of his father, he started acting at age seventeen. He was noted for having helped introduce American audiences to the plays of George Bernard Shaw. Mrs. Warren’s Profession, which dealt with prostitution, was closed down for indecency by the authorities. During the early silent film era, Daly became a matinee idol, appearing some of the popular Pearl White serials. His last film was In Borrowed Plumes (1926). Daly died on January 13, 1927, when a fire consumed his Manhattan apartment. He was buried in the Bronx’s Woodlawn Cemetery.