John D. McNally

J. DANIEL MCNALLY (aka. john d. mcnally) has a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Denver and combines an extensive background in writing with a long and successful career in the performing arts.

He was born in North Platte Nebraska and raised in Denver Colorado. After graduating from Denver’s Regis High school, he attended Regis college from which he graduated with a major in philosophy and literature and a minor in classical languages.

He then moved to New York to begin his career in Theatre. After studying with Uta Hagen he began getting acting work very quickly. Now a veteran of over 250 professional productions, Mr. McNally has appeared on stages all across the country including Portland, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Stratford, San Diego, as well as New York City and Denver, working with such directors as Douglas Turner Ward, Joseph Papp, John Houseman, and Joseph Anthony, assaying a wide variety of roles including classic parts such as Cassius, Othello, and Vershinin.

His versatility is demonstrated by the extensive range of characters he has been cast to play in his career — — from the title roles in Romeo And Juliet, Hamlet, Volpone and The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail, to Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Thomas Becket in Murder in the Cathedral; from the tragic Inca King Atahaullpa in The Royal Hunt of the Sun to Shannon in Night of the Iguana. Dinner Theatre audiences have seen him co-starring opposite Pat Carroll, Eddie Bracken, and Marjorie Lord.

The twenty-odd films in which Mr. McNally has appeared include Steven Speilberg’s 1941, Jerry Schatzberg’s Scarecrow, and Mario Van Peebles’ Identity Crisis as well as Summer School and Mayfair Mob for which he also provided the screenplays. Most recently he was seen as Robert in Proof and Richard Nixon in Nixon’s Nixon at The Portland Stage, Greg in Sylvia at the Pennsylvania Center Stage, John in Oleanna at the Denver Civic, Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet at the Langworthy, Edward (the Irishman) in Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and Lloyd (the director) in Noises Off at The New Theatre, Bill in War In Paramus at The HB Playwrights Foundation, the fastidious Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, and the ever irrascible Ebenezzer Scrooge in Christmas Carol.

As an author Mr. McNally has written two novels, a short story collection, five stage plays, and a host of non-fiction works. He has had numerous screenplays produced (Summer School — Media Arts; Mayfair Mob — Bogside Productions; and The Brooklin — Manchester Studio). He has taught acting at New York University, Penn State University, The University of Denver, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Among the luminaries with whom Mr. McNally has worked are Steven Spielberg, Samurl L. Jackson, Al Pacino, and Gene Hackman.