Bryan Murray (actor)

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Bryan Murray
Born (1949-07-13) 13 July 1949 (age 75)
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Occupationactor
Known for Fair City , Brookside , The Irish R.M.

Bryan Murray (born 13 July 1949) is an Irish actor. He is known for his extensive television work which includes Fitz in Strumpet City , Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M. , Shifty in Bread (for which he won BBC TV Personality of the Year), Harry Cassidy in Perfect Scoundrels , Trevor Jordache in Brookside and Bob Charles in Fair City .

Contents

Early life and theatre career

Murray was born in Dublin, Ireland. As a stage actor, he began his career in Dublin at the Abbey Theatre where, as a member of The Abbey Company, [1] he appeared in over 50 productions. In London, he has been a member of The Royal National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and has been in many productions in the West End. [1] He has appeared many times at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, [2] most recently in 2013 in My Cousin Rachel adapted for the stage by Joseph O'Connor. [3] In the 2010 Dublin Fringe Festival, he appeared in the award-winning production of Medea at The Samuel Beckett theatre. [4]

Television

Murray is known for his extensive television work which includes Fitz in Strumpet City , Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M. , Shifty in Bread (for which he won BBC TV Personality of the Year), Harry Cassidy in Perfect Scoundrels , Trevor Jordache in Brookside and Bob Charles in Fair City . He appeared on the second season of Charity You're a Star where he sang duets with his Fair City co-star Una Crawford O'Brien. The duo were voted off the show after performing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". [5] He played the role of Lynch in the film, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977).

Murphy has presented the documentary for TV3 The Tenements, a four-part series charting the rise and fall of the Tenements in Dublin from the 1800s to the mid-1970s. He fronted the BBC1 children's religious affairs programmes Knock Knock and Umbrella for three years. On RTÉ, he had his own prime time TV talk shows Encore and Caught in the Act and presented Saturday Night Live. His nine-part radio series The Sound of Movies was aired on RTÉ Radio 1 in 2008. He has also been a semi regular presenter of Late Date on RTÉ Radio 1. In the US, he presented the 'Irish Spring' commercial on network TV for six years, the award-winning 'Pioneer Press' commercials for three years and hosted the St Patrick's Day Parade for PBS Television. His series The Big House was shown on TV3 in the spring of 2013.

He co-created and co-devised the ITV series Perfect Scoundrels which ran for three years. He has co-written two musicals performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and Irish Theatre Company Dublin; A Happy Go Likeable Man, after Molière, and Thieves Carnival, after Anouilth. Most recently Murray took part in the 'One City One Book' celebration Bread and Roses; Strumpet City Revisited reading extracts from the book with the RIAAM orchestra playing the theme music from the TV series conducted by the composer Proinnsias O'Duinn at Dublin Castle. [6]

Notable roles

Although Murray's mainstream work increased in the eighties due to his roles of Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M. and Shifty Boswell in the BBC sitcom Bread , his role in Brookside is perhaps the well known, despite the character appearing in the show for only eleven episodes. His character, was a wife beater and a child abuser Trevor Jordache, was stabbed and killed by his wife, Mandy (Sandra Maitland), she and daughter Beth (Anna Friel) later buried his body under the patio, where it was discovered in 1995.

He portrays Bob Charles, the once owner of McCoys pub but now the owner of The Hungry Pig restaurant, in the RTÉ soap opera Fair City . [7]

Filmography

Film

YearFilmRoleDirectorNotes
1971Here Are Ladies John Quested Short film
1977 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Lynch Joseph Strick
1998The Disturbance at DinnerNarratorGreg Akopyan
Lawrence Kane
2000Wonderland...It Ain'tDadLawrence KaneShort film
2005 Boy Eats Girl Mr. Frears Stephen Bradley
2010Love on the LineJackBernadette McCarthy
201110 Arenas of MarwoodDr. Goode Michael Audreson
2012A Christmas Carol Jacob Marley Jason Figgis
2014Dinner For OneKevin McGeeShort film
2017TormentJohnJason Figgis
2018 Vita & Virginia Doctor Chanya Button
2019 The Professor and the Madman Henry Liddell Farhad Safinia

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978BetziBarry O'MearaTelevision film
1979 ITV Playhouse Nelson11.02 "I'm a Dreamer Montreal"
1980 Strumpet City FitzTelevision miniseries
1980PremierePrivate Semple4.01 "Rifleman"
1981Bread or BloodPope1.03 "Childhood"
1.04 "Bread"
1.05 "Blood"
1981 Play for Today Terry12.05 "Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain"
1982 Dead Ernest Saint Patrick 1.02 "Episode Two"
1982Harry Carpenter Never Said It Was Like ThisTelevision film
1982 The Year of the French Ferdy O'Donnell1.06 "Episode Six"
1983-1985 The Irish R.M. Flurry Knox18 episodes
1983Play for TodayGeorge McQuiston13.10 "Gates of Gold"
1985Oscar George Bernard Shaw 1.01 "Gilded Youth"
1.02 "Trials"
1.03 "De Profundis"
1986 The Return of the Antelope Chimney Sweep2.01 "Brelca Goes Ballooning"
1988Ten Great Writers of the Modern World James Joyce 1.01 "James Joyce's 'Ulysses'"
1988Final RunMichael / Danny4 episodes
1988-1991 Bread Shifty Boswell49 episodes
1988The Franchise AffairKevin McDermott1.06 "Episode Six"
1990-1992 Perfect Scoundrels Harry Cassidy18 episodes
1996 Mrs. Santa Claus Officer DoyleTelevision film
1997 The Bill Special Officer Paul Wellsted13.127 "Shades of Grey: Part One"
13.128 "Shades of Grey: Part Two"
1998-1999 Casualty Mr. James Roberts13.13 "One from the Heart"
13.16 "Making a Difference"
13.20 "White Lies, White Wedding"
1999 Holby City Mr. James Roberts1.01 "Whose Heart Is It Anyway?"
1.03 "Kill or Cure"
1999-2000 Glenroe Mike O'Shea17.14 "Venetia Thinks It Over"
17.17 "The Old Triangle"
2002The BillHarry Fullerton13 episodes
2004 Proof Miles Carrick4 episodes
2004 Silent Witness David Kelman8.01 "A Time to Heal: Part 1"
2005The Baby WarConnorTelevision film
2005-2025 Fair City Bob Charles 211 episodes
2007 The Tudors Jean De Bellay1.07 "Message to the Emperor"
2019 Bridget & Eamon Antiques Expert4.05 "The Vase"

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Bryan's heart is firmly in new role". Irish Examiner. 12 September 2013.
  2. "Murray's land of shadow". Independent.ie . 3 December 2006.
  3. "My Cousin Rachel". itmarchive.ie.
  4. "Theatre director who followed her heart". Independent.ie . 12 September 2010.
  5. "Una and Bryan voted off Charity You're A Star". RTÉ. 3 August 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
  6. "Strumpet City Programme" (PDF). DublinOneCityOneBook.ie . 2013.
  7. Gallagher, Brian (3 October 2005). Inside Fair City. Rooney Media Graphics. ISBN   978-0955090202.