Lord Mayor Pearse Leahy, Judy Geeson and Dermot Breen

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Dublin Core

Title

Lord Mayor Pearse Leahy, Judy Geeson and Dermot Breen

Subject

Cork Film Festival, Lord Mayor Pearse Leahy, Judy Geeson, Dermot Breen, Sally Geeson, Sean Kenny

Description

This is a black and white photo of the English actor Judy Geeson standing with Lord Mayor Thomas Pearse Leahy and festival director Dermot Breen. Blond-haired Geeson, wearing a white lace evening dress and holding a white bag, is smiling directly at the camera. Breen on the right, with a festival ribbon pinned to his jacket, stands straight and gazes at the camera. On the left, a bespectacled Thomas Pearse Leahy, with his grey hair swept back and hands folded in front of him, also smiles broadly for the camera.

Thomas Pearse Leahy was Lord Mayor of Cork in 1969 which corroborates the date of this photo and makes Geeson age 21 years old when she came to visit Cork. Leahy was a member of the Labour party and served one term of office as Lord Mayor in Cork. During the Northern Ireland troubles, Sinn Féin organised a march through the city, led by the Thomas Ashe Piper’s Band, and placards saying “Cork Bleeds for Derry” and “Cork Supports its Northern Brothers”. Following the death of nine-year-old Patrick Rooney in Belfast, Lord Mayor Pearse Leahy said that Cork could offer refuge and accommodate 1,000 children from Northern Ireland trouble spots. (Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Irish Times, 16.08.2019.)

The actor Judy Geeson (1948-) was a popular English film, television, and stage actor who began her career with television work such as in The Newcomers from 1965 to 1967 and Poldark in the mid-1970s. However it was her role in To Sir, With Love (James Clavell, 1967), age 18, opposite Sidney Poitier that secured her place in film history. Her filmography includes 10 Rillington Place (Richard Fleischer, 1971) with Richard Attenborough, the notoriously panned Carry on England (Gerald Thomas, 1976), and a supporting role in The Eagle Has Landed (John Sturges, 1976) alongside Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, and Jenny Agutter.

Geeson is the sister of Carry On and Bless This House actor Sally Geeson (1950-). Judy Geeson was married to Sean Kenny, the Irish theatre designer, in 1969, until his sudden death in 1973, age 43. Some of Kenny's set designs can be seen in the theatre and performance collection of the Victoria & Albert (V&A) online digital archive.

Creator

University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, TF Sheppard

Source

Cork Film Festival Collection

Publisher

University College Cork

Date

1969

Contributor

TF Sheppard

Rights

©TF Sheppard. All rights reserved. Please credit Cork International Film Festival & provide a link back to this site.

Format

Photo
TIFF
JPEG

Language

English, eng

Coverage

1969
Cork, Ireland

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Photo

Physical Dimensions

204 x 253mm

Collection

Citation

University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, TF Sheppard , “Lord Mayor Pearse Leahy, Judy Geeson and Dermot Breen,” Cork International Film Festival Archive, accessed December 22, 2024, https://corkfilmfest.ucc.ie/items/show/238.