As studio head, he won an Academy Award for Best Picture for the film Cavalcade and was nominated three more times.

Most famously, he nurtured the budding stardom of then-child star Shirley Temple, in such films as Stand Up and Cheer!

The Fox case played a vital role in destroying the Motion Picture Patents Company's absolute control.

Afterward, Sheehan became William Fox's personal secretary and two years later became the studio's general manager and vice president.

He then served as Fox's chief of production from 1926 until 1935, when the studio became part of 20th Century-Fox and was replaced by Darryl Zanuck.