Michael O'Herlihy

Dubliner Michael O'Herlihy found success in American television and film, but unlike his younger brother, noted actor Dan O'Herlihy, he made his name behind the camera as a prolific director and occasional producer. After half a decade helming episodes for various TV programs, including stints with popular westerns "Maverick" and "Rawhide," Walt Disney Productions selected the director to man their 1966 adventure feature, "The Fighting Prince of Donegal." But after just two more films with Disney, O'Herlihy moved back to televisio where he proved himself a capable craftsman in a disparate variety of genres. He moonlighted at classic series like "Star Trek," "Mission: Impossible" and "M.A.S.H.," and directed family-oriented TV fare for Disney through the '60s and into the early '70s. But it was with "Hawaii Five-O," the exotically-set detective drama, that O'Herlihy had his longest run, spanning 36 episodes and seven years. He left "Hawaii Five-O" in 1976, and three years later tried his hand at producing with the mini-series "Back Stairs at the White House," a four-episode historical drama that O'Herlihy also directed. Next, he briefly turned his attention to TV movies, directing no less than eight made-for-television films between 1979 and 1980. Throughout most of the 1980s, he again focused on working for numerous series, eventually landing a 20 episode-stay with the action hit "The A-Team." In 1987, he revisited the historical drama, this time with "Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Civil War," which earned him his only Emmy nod before retiring the following year.