Edward Francis Michael Patrick Joseph O'Shea (March 17, 1906 – December 4, 1973) was an American actor, comedian, musician and band leader who appeared on the stage, in feature films and on television in a career that spanned the 1940s through the early 1970s.

O'Shea was born in Hartford, Connecticut on March 17, 1906. He held jobs as a newspaper copy boy, a Western Union messenger and a tobacco farmer before embarking on his career in showbusiness.

O'Shea played drums and the banjo. Much like his character from Lady of Burlesque (1943), Biff Brannigan, O'Shea acted as a comedian and emcee at speakeasies. He assembled a dance band, Michael O'Shea and His Stationary Gypsies, and later performed on radio and the legitimate stage, where he was billed for a time as Eddie O'Shea. He worked on radio shows such as Superman, Mr District Attorney, The March of Time and Gangbuster.

O'Shea received acclaim for his performance in the 1942 play The Eve of St. Mark on Broadway. The play was a hit and film producers began approaching O'Shea with offers for screen tests.

O'Shea's work in The Eve of St. Mark led to an offer to play Barbara Stanwyck's leading man in the film Lady of Burlesque (1943) for producer Hunt Stromberg, released through United Artists, which became a sizeable hit.

Samuel Bronston offered O'Shea the title role in the biopic Jack London (1943), also released through United Artists. The cast included Virginia Mayo, who would become O'Shea's second wife.

O'Shea was asked to reprise his stage role in the film version of The Eve of St. Mark (1944), produced by Twentieth-Century Fox, with whom he had contracted for two more films, including Where Do We Go From Here?, a project that did not materialize.

O'Shea played the lead role in Man from Frisco (1944), a fictional account of the career of Henry Kaiser for Republic Pictures and directed by Robert Florey. At Fox he appeared in the musical Something for the Boys (1944) with Carmen Miranda.