He's been a lawyer in the Roslyn area for four decades, but some of Joseph McCartney's biggest achievements have come in the acting profession, playing small roles in numerous stage and screen productions and appearing aside such stars as Frank Sinatra, Sidney Poitier, and James Garner. This longtime Roslyn Heights resident is now playing the role of Simon Stimson in the Hofstra University production of Our Town, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Thornton Wilder. Our Town will be playing at the Monroe Lecture Center on the Hofstra campus in Hempstead from now until Sunday, June 24.

The movie version of Our Town, which starred William Holden and Martha Scott, was nominated for six academy awards in 1940. Back in 1964, Mr. McCartney met Ms. Scott when a stage rendition of Our Town was playing at the Legit Theater on Franklin Avenue in Mineola. Mr. McCartney, who was then operating a law practice in Mineola, left a photo of himself with Ms. Scott and sure enough, he was called back a year later to play a small role in the same play. Mr. McCartney had done some acting in regional theater, but after the part in Our Town, more roles began coming his way.

In 1967, Mr. McCartney met the actor Sidney Poitier in Manhattan. Mr. Poitier was then working on the movie, For the Love of Ivy. Mr. McCartney introduced himself to the famed actor, and consequently, was offered a role as a "warm body walk-in" actor in the same movie.

Another big name star Mr. McCartney worked with was Frank Sinatra. Now a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Mr. McCartney was offered a role in The Detective, a late-1960s movie starring Mr. Sinatra. Again, the role was small, but a photo shot of both men happened to be used as the main publicity shot for the entire movie, thus giving exposure to Mr. McCartney at billboards, large and small, throughout the New York City area.

All this time, Mr. McCartney still tried to practice law. The distractions were there, plus, as he joked, all his clients "kept going to jail." So, the acting career moved forward. Over the years, Mr. McCartney has appeared in over 100 movies and television shows. His television credits has included roles in such hit series as Law and Order and The Sopranos. For the latter show, Mr. McCartney appeared on the series finale for the 2000 season, jogging along an Asbury Park boardwalk, while the show's star, James Gandolfini, playing Tony Soprano, contemplates his own immediate plans.

On the Hofstra stage, Mr. McCartney has appeared as an aging vaudevillian in These Golden Years starring Eddie Bracken and as General Lord Kitchener in Breaker Morant. On television, Mr. McCartney has also played opposite James Wood and James Garner in My Name Is Bill, a film that tells the story behind the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. In Mr. McCartney's day, actors with small roles were called walk-ons or extras. But as he notes, such roles have been upgraded to the title of "background" actors.

Mr. McCartney has lived with his family in Roslyn Heights for the past 33 years. Raised in the Vinegar Hill section of Manhattan, among, as he recalled, "very poor Irish people," Mr. McCartney served in the China-Burma theater during World War II, then returned home, eventually attending law school at St. John's on the GI Bill. Before law school, he spent two years on the New York City police department, walking the Spanish Harlem beat. He also worked as a special agent for the U.S. Naval Intelligence division, doing mostly undercover work. In addition, he served in the U.S. Air Force for over two decades following World War II.

After earning his law school degree, Mr. McCartney moved to Roslyn, practicing law in Mineola for a good 40 years. He is now retired from the legal profession, but he still continues to act. Mr. McCartney said the current production of Our Town has been "received very well," even though cast members are upset that the theater critic from Newsday refuses the review the play. Cast members claim this critic has done so out of his general dislike for Our Town itself.

Show times for Our Town are 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $20 and $18 for senior citizens. Group discounts are available. For more information, call the Hofstra Box Office at 463-6644.