Leprechauns who worked their magic
The leprechaun in the Syfy TV-movie "Leprechaun's Revenge" (March 17 at 9 p.m.) may look more like a goblin than it does like Lucky, the Lucky Charms mascot. But that's OK -- popular culture already has a wealth of the more traditional-looking Celtic creature:
OG ('FINIAN'S RAINBOW')
David Wayne, winning the first Tony Award for best featured actor in a musical, gave us this quintessential stage leprechaun in the 1947 Broadway hit. Francis Ford Coppola's maligned 1968 movie-musical version cast British teen idol Tommy Steele in the role.
HORACE ('THE LUCK OF THE IRISH')
Cecil Kellaway earned a supporting actor Oscar nomination as the dapper imp in this 1948 film, serving as whimsical conscience to reporter-speechwriter Tyrone Power, who's caught between Anne Baxter and Jayne Meadows.
KING BRIAN CONNERS ('DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE')
Sean Connery wasn't yet James Bond, when he starred as young Dubliner Michael McBride in the 1959 Disney film in which the wily leprechaun king (Jimmy O'Dea) has both a pot and a heart of gold.
THE LEPRECHAUN OF THE 'LEPRECHAUN' FILMS
A year before "Friends," Jennifer Aniston made her movie debut in "Leprechaun" (1993), trying to stay alive while the unnamed murderous title character ("Willow" star Warwick Davis, now on HBO's "Life's Too Short") preys on her and her friends. Davis went on to reprise his role in five sequels, all but one direct-to-video, through 2003's "Leprechaun: Back 2 that Hood."
LUCKY ('A VERY UNLUCKY LEPRECHAUN')
No, not the cereal mascot -- but faith and begorrah, it's Warwick Davis, left, again, in this 1998 family film playing a much nicer character than he would in "Leprechaun." Produced by Roger Corman, it was shot on location in County Galway, Ireland.
