Adrian Dunbar

Adrian Dunbar
Dunbar in 2014
Born	(1958-08-01) 1 August 1958 (age 66) Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupations	Actor screenwriter director singer
Years active	1980–present
Notable work	Ashes to Ashes (2009) Line of Duty (2012–2021)
Spouse	Anna Nygh ​ (m. 1986)​

Adrian Dunbar (born 1 August 1958) is an Irish actor, director, and singer, known for his television and theatre work. He co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film Hear My Song , nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BAFTA awards. ^[1]

Dunbar is best known for playing Superintendent Ted Hastings in all six series of the hit BBC crime drama Line of Duty (2012–21). He has also appeared as Alan Cox in The Jump , Martin Summers in Ashes to Ashes , Richard Plantagenet in The Hollow Crown , and Father Flaherty in Broken . Since 2022, Dunbar has starred in the lead role of Alex Ridley in the ITV detective series Ridley . 2024 Kiss Me Kate on stage

Notable film work includes My Left Foot (1989), The Crying Game (1992), and deleted scenes in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), whilst TV guest appearances include Inspector Morse , Cracker , A Touch of Frost , Silk , Scott & Bailey , Silent Witness and Inside No. 9 .

Early life

Dunbar was born and brought up in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland, the eldest of seven siblings. He has two brothers, John and Liam , who live in Enniskillen, and four sisters, Roisin, Cristina, Madeline and Moira. Raised in a Catholic family, he was educated at St Joseph's College in Enniskillen, before attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. ^[2]

Career

Dunbar has appeared in such notable films as My Left Foot , The Crying Game and The General . He has also had leading roles in the films Triggermen, Shooters, How Harry Became A Tree (with Colm Meaney), Richard III and Widows' Peak .

On television he starred in the first episode of Cracker , playing an innocent murder suspect with amnesia, and also the last episode of A Touch of Frost . He has been in many British productions, including Tough Love, Inspector Morse , Kidnapped, Murphy's Law, Murder in Mind, Ashes to Ashes and the 2005 re-staging of The Quatermass Experiment .

Dunbar's theatre credits include The Shaughraun and Exiles at Dublin's Abbey Theatre; Real Dreams and The Danton Affair at the Royal Shakespeare Company; King Lear , Pope's Wedding, Saved and Up to the Sun And Down to the Centre at Royal Court Theatre and Conversations on a Homecoming at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast; A Trinity of Two (as Oscar Wilde) at Dublin's Liberty Hall Theatre; and Boeing Boeing (London, 2007). He has directed a critically acclaimed production of Philadelphia Here I Come! .

In 2008, he starred in and co-directed Brendan at the Chelsea by Janet Behan, playing Brendan Behan. The play was the first to be staged in the Naughton Studio in the new Lyric Theatre in Belfast after it reopened in 2011, and was revived for a tour to Theatre Row in New York City in September 2013.

Dunbar played the role of Tullus Aufidius in the BBC Radio production of Coriolanus . He also made a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi , and appeared on stage as Vermeer in an adaptation of Girl with a Pearl Earring .

In 2008, Dunbar played the role of Philip Conolly in the critically acclaimed The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce . He starred alongside fellow Northern Irish actor Ciarán McMenamin in the remote rainforests of north-west Tasmania. He joined the cast of the police procedural television series Line of Duty in 2012, portraying the role of Superintendent Ted Hastings; he continued in this role for all subsequent series.

Dunbar is also a theatre director and has staged productions for the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival. In 2020 he founded the multi-disciplinary arts company Unreal Cities with composer Nick Roth, whose work includes two Beckett Biennales (Beckett: Confined 2022, Beckett: Unbound 2024) as well as settings of poems by T.S. Eliot, Dermot Healy and Seamus Heaney. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

He played the mysterious character Martin Summers in the second series of Ashes to Ashes . In 2014 he played the title character in a BBC comedy drama, Walter. ^[8]

Dunbar also starred as Jim Hogan in the Virgin Media Television original drama Blood.

Other media

• He was cast as Bail Organa for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and appeared in costume in publicity stills, but his scene was cut; the character was re-cast with Jimmy Smits for later films. Dunbar's likeness was retconned into the appearance of the character Bail Antilles. ^{[9] [10]}
• He fronts his own band, ^[11] which has played in such American locations as Nashville, Tennessee, and Austin, Texas.
• He sings "The Curragh of Kildare" with Brian Kennedy on Kennedy's On Song and fronts this song with his own band. ^[12]
• He narrates the popular TV series The Estate as well as an audiobook production of Eoin Colfer's novel Artemis Fowl . ^[13]
• He played a minor role in The Dawning (1988), alongside Anthony Hopkins and Hugh Grant, which led to further early roles in his acting career.

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Awards

BAFTA Awards
Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1993	Hear My Song	Best Screenplay	Nominated
2018	Line of Duty	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated

Irish Film & Television Academy Awards

IFTA Awards
Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2018	Line of Duty	Actor in a Lead Role in Drama	Nominated
2020			Nominated
2021			Nominated

National Television Awards

National Television Awards
Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2021	Line of Duty	Drama Performance	Nominated

TV Choice Awards

TV Choice Awards
Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2019	Line of Duty	Best Actor	Won
2021			Nominated

GQ Men of the Year Awards

GQ Men of the Year Awards
Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2021	Line of Duty	Television Actor	Won

Personal life

Dunbar has a daughter and stepson from his 1986 marriage to Australian actress Anna Nygh. He lives in Crouch End, North London. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Ulster in June 2009 in recognition of his services to acting. ^{[14] [15]}

Dunbar is an Irish Republican and believes Sinn Féin will deliver a united Ireland in the future, saying: "I expect Ireland to be unified and at peace with herself. Irish unification and freedom after hundreds of years is in our DNA, it is in effect a big part of who we have become to ourselves and the world". ^[16]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Sky Bandits	Mechanic
1988	A World Apart	Le Roux
	The Dawning	Capt. Rankin
1989	Unusual Ground Floor Conversion	Alan Simpson	Short film
	My Left Foot	Peter
	Dealers	Lennon Mayhew
1991	Hear My Song	Micky O'Neill
1992	The Playboys	Mick
	The Crying Game	Maguire
1994	Widows' Peak	Godfrey Doyle-Counihan
1995	Innocent Lies	Alan Cross
	The Near Room	Charlie Colquhoun
	Richard III	James Tyrell
1998	The General	Noel Curley
1999	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	Senator Bail Organa	Deleted scene
2000	Last Orders		Short film
	Wild About Harry	J.J. McMahon
	The Wedding Tackle	Mr Mac
2001	How Harry Became a Tree	George
2002	Triggermen	Andy Jarrett
	Shooters	Max Bell
2003	The Measure of My Days	Priest	Short film
2004	Mickybo and Me	Mickybo's Da
2005	Against Nature	The Tramp	Short film
2006	Eye of the Dolphin	Hawk
2008	The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce	Philip Conolly
2009	Act of God	Frank O'Connor
2011	Hideaways	Dr Russell
	Mother's Milk	Seamus Dorke
2012	Good Vibrations	Andy
2016	The Secret Scripture	Dr Hart
2017	The Snowman	Frederick Aasen
2022	Emily	Patrick Brontë

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	The Long March	Colm	TV movie
1984	Play for Today	Peter Douglas	Episode: "The Cry"
	After You've Gone	Chris	TV movie
	The Hidden Curriculum	Boyd
1985	The Price	Willy	4 episodes
1988	The Fear	Con
	The Four Minute Mile	Norris McWhirter	TV movie
	Screen Two	Robbie MacIntyre	Episode: "Reasonable Force"
1990		John	Episode: "Drowning in the Shallow End"
	Theatre Night	Lenny	Episode: "Pentecost"
	Debut on Two	John/Lucien	Episodes: "The Wake" and "A Box of Swan"
	Centrepoint	Brown	2 episodes
	ScreenPlay	Andy	Episode: "The Englishman's Wife"
1991	Children of the North	Martin Deeley	3 episodes
1992	ScreenPlay	DS Billy McCourbrey	Episode: "Force of Duty"
	Inspector Morse	John Marriat	Episode: "Dead on Time"
1993	A Statement of Affairs	Adrian	3 episodes
	Cracker	Kelly	Episodes: "The Mad Woman in the Attic", Parts 1 & 2
	A Woman's Guide to Adultery	Michael	3 episodes
1994	The Blue Boy	Joe Bonnar	TV movie
	Pleasure	Gustave Coudray
1995	Cruel Train	Jack Dando
1997	Melissa	Graeme Hepburn	5 episodes
1998	The Jump	Alan Cox	4 episodes
	The Officer from France	Wolfe Tone	TV movie
1999	Relative Strangers	Michael Docherty	2 episodes
2000	Tough Love	DCI Mike Love
2003	Murphy's Law	Mickey Munday	Episode: "Manic Munday"
	Murder in Mind	Tom Robbins	Episode: "Justice"
	Suspicion	Mark Finnegan	2 episodes
2005	Kidnapped	Alexander Balfour/Ebenezer Balfour	TV movie
	The Quatermass Experiment	Detective Lomax
	Child of Mine	Alfie Palmer
2007	The Whistleblowers	Chris Clayton	Episode: "Starters"
2008	Whistleblower	Florence Wycherley	2 episodes
2009	Ashes to Ashes	Martin Summers	8 episodes
2010	A Touch of Frost	Gerry Berland	Episodes: "If Dogs Run Free", Parts 1 & 2
	Mo	David Trimble	TV movie
2011	Silk	Joe Gillespie QC	Episode: "Three Sheets to the Wind"
	Death in Paradise	Aidan Miles	Episodes: "Music of Murder" and "Amongst Us"
2011–13	World's Most Dangerous Roads	Narrator	9 episodes
2012	Scott & Bailey	Det. Supt. Rick Wallis	Episode: "Pipe Dreams"
	Silent Witness	Sean Delaney	Episodes: "Fear", Parts 1 & 2
	The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby	Ralph Nickleby	5 episodes
2012–21	Line of Duty	Supt. Ted Hastings	Six series; 36 episodes
2013	Jo	Olivier Cattan	Episode: "Place Vendôme"
2014	Walter	DI Walter Gambon	TV movie
	A Touch of Cloth	Damien Vull	Episodes: "Too Cloth for Comfort", Parts 1 & 2
2016	The Hollow Crown	Plantagenet	Episodes: "Henry VI", Parts 1 & 2
2017	Broken	Father Peter Flaherty	6 episodes
2018-2020	Blood	Jim Hogan
2019	Red Nose Bodyguard	Policeman/Supt. Ted Hastings	Red Nose Day 2019 special
2021	The Attendant	The Attendant	Short film
	Adrian Dunbar's Coastal Ireland	Himself/presenter	Two-part series
	Inside No. 9	Himself	Series 6, episode 4: "Hurry Up and Wait"
2022–present	Ridley	Alex Ridley	ITV series [17]
	Adrian Dunbar: My Ireland	Himself/presenter	Two-part series
2023	DNA Journey	Himself	With Neil Morrisey [18]

References

1. Maslin, Janet (19 January 1992). "Hear My Song (1991) Review/Film; Irish Tenor Is Focus Of Intrigue and Blarney". The New York Times .
2. "Eye of the Dolphin Star Biographies – Adrian Dunbar". michaeldsellers.com. 9 July 2007. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021.
3. "Adrian Dunbar on Beckett: 'I seemed to be getting knocked around emotionally but didn't know how he was doing it'". The Irish Times .
4. Masters, Time (15 April 2015). "Beckett festival to feature play in the dark". BBC News.
5. Slater, Sasha. "Going to the Opera". Harper's Bazaar.
6. Thorpe, Vanessa. "Sophie Hunter: The opera director who has to dodge paparazzie". Sophie Hunter Central.
7. Kennedy, Maev (15 April 2015). "Happy Days festival's Beckett treats to include a German Godot". The Guardian.
8. "Programmes". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014.
9. Adrian Dunbar as Bail Antilles- Deleted Scene- STAR WARS: EP I: PHANTOM MENACE- Alderaan in Senate., 5 August 2016, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 20 July 2021
10. Guardian Staff (14 August 2000). "Adrian Dunbar linked to 'strange' Star Wars". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
11. Adie Dunbar and the Jonahs Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
12. "The Curragh of Kildare". BBC Music. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018.
13. Colfer, Eoin (2001). Artemis Fowl. Puffin Audiobooks. ISBN   0-14-180286-3.
14. "Honorary Degree for Leading Ulster Actor Dunbar". 30 June 2009. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
15. Murphy, Eoin (15 February 2020). "Line of Duty star says Sinn Fein will be able to deliver 32-county republic". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
16. Young, David (10 May 2021). "Adrian Dunbar and top Orangeman Mervyn Gibson split over Ireland in 2121". Belfast Telegraph .
17. "Adrian Dunbar detective series Ridley starts filming in Lancashire". ITV. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
18. "DNA Journey". itv.com. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.

External links

• Adrian Dunbar at IMDb