Gabriel Byrne | |
---|---|
Born | Gabriel James Byrne 12 May 1950 Dublin, Ireland |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1978–present |
Spouses | |
Children | 3 |
Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) [1] is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and was listed at number 17 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors in 2020. [2] The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. [3]
His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish drama serial The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken . He went on to star in such films as Excalibur (1981), Lionheart (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Little Women (1994), Dead Man (1995), The Usual Suspects (1995), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), Enemy of the State (1998), Vanity Fair (2004), The 33 (2015), and Hereditary (2018). He co-wrote The Last of the High Kings (1996) and also produced In the Name of the Father (1993).
For his Broadway work, he has received two nominations for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his roles in the Eugene O'Neill plays A Moon for the Misbegotten (2000), and Long Day's Journey into Night (2016). For his television work, Byrne has received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Paul Weston in the HBO drama series In Treatment (2008–2010), he also received a Golden Globe Award. Other notable television roles include Vikings (2013), Maniac (2018), and War of the Worlds (2019–2022).
Gabriel James Byrne was born on 12 May 1950 in Walkinstown, Dublin, Ireland, the son of Roman Catholic parents. His father Dan was a soldier and cooper, while his mother Eileen (née Gannon), from Elphin, County Roscommon, [4] was a hospital nurse. He has five younger siblings: Donal, Thomas, Breda, Margaret, and a sister who died at an early age, Marian. [5]
Byrne attended Ardscoil Éanna secondary school in Crumlin, where he later taught Spanish and history. [6] He attended University College Dublin, where he studied archaeology, Spanish and linguistics, and graduated with a BA in 1972, [7] becoming proficient in the Irish language. He went on to complete a Higher Diploma in Education (HDipEd) in 1973.
About his early training to become a priest, he said in an interview, "I spent five years in the seminary and I suppose it was assumed that one had a vocation. I realised subsequently that I didn't." [8]
He played football in Dublin with Stella Maris. [9]
In January 2011, he spoke in an interview on The Meaning of Life about being sexually abused by priests during his childhood. [10] [11]
Byrne worked in archaeology when he left UCD. He maintained his love of his language, later writing the first television drama in Irish, Draíocht, on Ireland's national Irish-language television station, TG4, when it began broadcasting in 1996. [12]
Before becoming an actor, Byrne had many jobs, including archaeologist, cook, and Spanish and history school teacher at Ardscoil Éanna in Crumlin. He started acting at age 29, [7] and began his career on stage with the Focus Theatre and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He later joined the Performing Arts Course at Roslyn Park College in Sandymount. He came to prominence on the final season of the Irish television show The Riordans , [7] subsequently starring in his own spin-off series, Bracken . His first play for television was Michael Feeney Callan's Love Is ... (RTÉ). He made his film debut in 1981, as King Uther Pendragon in John Boorman's King Arthur epic, Excalibur . [7]
In 1983, he appeared with Richard Burton in the miniseries Wagner , co-starring Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. [13] In 1985, he starred in the acclaimed political thriller Defence of the Realm , though he subsequently claimed he had been upstaged by his co-star, veteran actor Denholm Elliott: "I amended the actor's cliché to 'Never work with children, animals or Denholm Elliott'." [14] In the 90s, his production company Plurabelle Films received a first look deal with Phoenix Pictures. [15]
In 2007, he led the jury of the Kerry Film Festival. [16]
Upon his return to theatre in 2008, he appeared as King Arthur in Camelot with the New York Philharmonic from 7 to 10 May, following the footsteps of veteran actors Richard Burton and Richard Harris. Byrne was cast in a film adaptation of Flann O'Brien's metafictional novel At Swim-Two-Birds , alongside Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy. Actor Brendan Gleeson was set to direct the film. [17] In October 2009, however, Gleeson expressed fear that, should the Irish Film Board be abolished as planned by the Irish State, the production might fall through. [18]
Byrne starred as therapist Paul Weston in the HBO series In Treatment from 2008 to 2010. He was named as TV's "latest Dr. McDreamy" by The New York Times [19] for this role, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2008. He also received his first Emmy Award nomination (Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series) for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards that same year.[ citation needed ]
In 2011, he signed up to appear in a film by director Costa-Gavras, Le Capital, [20] an adaptation of Stéphane Osmont's novel of the same name. In 2013, he starred as Earl Haraldson in the first season of Vikings opposite Travis Fimmel and Clive Standen.[ citation needed ]
In 2017, he appeared in Mad to Be Normal (previously titled Metanoia), a biopic of the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, produced by Gizmo Films. [21]
Walking with Ghosts, Byrne's one-man show based on his memoir of the same title (published by Grove Press in January 2021), premiered at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin on 1 February 2022, [22] before playing at the Edinburgh International Festival. [23] It opened on 6 September 2022 at the Apollo Theatre in London, [24] marking Byrne's West End debut at the age of 72, in 'a career-best performance', [25] and opened on 26 October 2022 at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. [26]
Byrne had a 12-year relationship with television producer and presenter Aine O'Connor, from 1974 to 1986. [27] He began a relationship with actress Ellen Barkin, and relocated to Manhattan to be with her. A year later, in 1988, he married Barkin, with whom he has two children. The couple separated amicably in 1993, and divorced in 1999. [28] He later married Hannah Beth King on 4 August 2014 at Ballymaloe House in County Cork. [29] As of 2021 [update] , Byrne lives with his family in Rockport, Maine. [30]
At the fifth Jameson Dublin International Film Festival in 2007, Byrne was presented with the first of the new Volta awards, for lifetime achievement in acting. He received the Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society, of Trinity College Dublin on 20 February 2007. In November 2007, he was awarded an honorary degree by the National University of Ireland, Galway; the president of the university, Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, said that the award was in recognition of the actor's "outstanding contribution to Irish and international film". [31]
Byrne released a documentary for the 20th Galway Film Fleadh in the summer of 2008 called Stories from Home, an intimate portrait about his life. It premiered in the United States in September 2009 at the Los Angeles Irish Film Festival. [32]
Byrne mentioned in interviews and his 1994 autobiography, Pictures in My Head that he hates being called "brooding". He has been listed by People as one of the "Sexiest Men Alive". Entertainment Weekly has also dubbed Byrne as one of the hottest celebrities over the age of 50. [33]
Byrne is an atheist and has been vocally critical of the Catholic Church, which he described in a 2011 interview with The Guardian as "repressive of women and minorities and repressive of its followers". In the same interview, he said that he still reads the Bible "for the fables". [34]
He was cultural ambassador for Ireland until he criticised The Gathering, a tourism initiative to encourage people of Irish heritage to visit the country, describing it as "a scam" and adding that the majority of Irish people "don't give a shit about the diaspora except to shake them down for a few quid". [35] Byrne also criticised the marketing strategy employed by Guinness known as Arthur's Day as "a cynical piece of exercise in a country which has a huge drinking problem". [36]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | On a Paving Stone Mounted [37] | Unknown | |
1981 | Love Is ... | Larry | |
1981 | Excalibur | Uther Pendragon | |
1983 | Hanna K. | Joshua Herzog | |
1983 | The Keep | Sturmbannfuhrer Erich Kaempffer | |
1984 | Reflections | William Masters | |
1985 | Defence of the Realm | Nick Mullen | |
1986 | Gothic | Lord Byron | |
1987 | Lionheart | The Black Prince | |
1987 | Hello Again | Dr. Kevin Scanlon | |
1987 | Julia and Julia | Paolo Vinci | |
1987 | Siesta | Augustine | |
1988 | The Courier | Val | |
1989 | A Soldier's Tale | Saul | |
1989 | Diamond Skulls | Lord Hugo Bruckton | |
1990 | Miller's Crossing | Tom Reagan | |
1990 | Shipwrecked | Lieutenant John Merrick | |
1992 | Into the West | Papa Reilly | Also associate producer |
1992 | Cool World | Jack Deebs | |
1993 | Point of No Return | Bob | aka The Assassin |
1993 | A Dangerous Woman | Colin Mackey | |
1993 | In the Name of the Father | — | Executive producer |
1994 | A Simple Twist of Fate | John Newland | |
1994 | Trial by Jury | Daniel Graham | |
1994 | Little Women | Professor Friedrich Bhaer | |
1994 | Prince of Jutland | Fenge | |
1995 | The Usual Suspects | Dean Keaton / Keyser Söze (flashback) | |
1995 | Dead Man | Charlie Dickinson | |
1995 | Frankie Starlight | Jack Kelly | |
1996 | Mad Dog Time | Ben London | |
1996 | The Last of the High Kings | Jack Griffin | Also writer and executive producer |
1996 | Somebody Is Waiting | Roger Ellis | Also executive producer |
1996 | Dr. Hagard's Disease | Unknown | Unreleased; also executive producer |
1997 | Smilla's Sense of Snow | The Mechanic | |
1997 | The End of Violence | Ray Bering | |
1997 | This Is the Sea | Rohan | |
1998 | Polish Wedding | Bolek | |
1998 | The Man in the Iron Mask | D'Artagnan | |
1998 | The Brylcreem Boys | Sean O'Brien | Also co-producer |
1998 | Quest for Camelot | Sir Lionel (voice) | |
1998 | Enemy of the State | NSA Agent Fake Brill | |
1999 | Stigmata | Father Andrew Kiernan | |
1999 | End of Days | The Man / Satan | |
2000 | Canone inverso | The Violinist ('Jeno Varga') | |
2000 | Mad About Mambo | — | Executive producer |
2002 | Virginia's Run | Ford Lofton | |
2002 | Spider | Bill Cleg | |
2002 | Emmett's Mark | Jack Marlow / Stephen Bracken | |
2002 | Horses: The Story of Equus | Narrator (voice) | |
2002 | Ghost Ship | Captain Sean Murphy | |
2003 | Shade | Charlie Miller | |
2003 | Flight from Death | Narrator (voice) | |
2004 | Vanity Fair | The Marquess of Steyne | |
2004 | P.S. | Peter Harrington | |
2004 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Brother Juniper | |
2005 | Assault on Precinct 13 | Captain Marcus Duvall | |
2005 | Wah-Wah | Harry Compton | |
2006 | Played | Eddie | |
2006 | Jindabyne | Stewart Kane | |
2007 | Emotional Arithmetic | Christopher Lewis | |
2008 | 2:22 | Detective Swain | Uncredited |
2009 | Butte, America | Narrator (voice) | |
2009 | Perrier's Bounty | The Reaper (voice) | |
2009 | Leningrad | Phillip Parker | |
2012 | Le Capital | Dittmar Rigule | |
2012 | I, Anna | Detective Bernie Reid | |
2013 | Just a Sigh (Le Temps de l'aventure) | Doug | |
2013 | All Things to All Men | Joseph Corsco | |
2014 | Vampire Academy | Victor Dashkov | |
2015 | The 33 | André Sougarret | |
2015 | Louder Than Bombs | Gene Reed | |
2015 | Nobody Wants the Night | Bram Trevor | |
2016 | Carrie Pilby | Mr. Daniel Pilby | |
2016 | No Pay, Nudity | Lawrence Rose | |
2017 | Mad to Be Normal | Jim | |
2017 | Lies We Tell | Donald | |
2018 | In the Cloud | Doc Wolff | |
2018 | An L.A. Minute | Ted Gold | |
2018 | Hereditary | Steve Graham | Also executive producer |
2018 | Atlantic Salmon: Lost at Sea | Narrator (voice) | |
2020 | Lost Girls | Richard Dormer | |
2020 | Death of a Ladies' Man | Samuel O'Shea | |
2022 | Murder at Yellowstone City | Sheriff James Ambrose | |
2022 | Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend | Enzo Ferrari | |
2022 | The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse | The Horse (voice) | Short film |
2023 | Dance First | Samuel Beckett | Post-production [38] |
2025 | Ballerina † | TBA | Post-production |
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978–1979 | The Riordans | Pat Barry | Drama series |
1980–1982 | Bracken | Pat Barry | Drama series |
1981 | Strangers | Johnny Maguire | Episode: "The Flowers of Edinburgh" |
1981 | The Search for Alexander the Great | Ptolemy | 4 episodes |
1982 | Joyce in June | Keogh / Blazes Boylan | Television film |
1983 | Wagner | Karl Ritter | 3 episodes |
1985 | Christopher Columbus | Christopher Columbus | 4 episodes |
1985 | Mussolini: The Untold Story | Vittorio Mussolini | 6 episodes |
1993 | Intimate Portrait | Narrator (voice) | Episode: "Kim Cattrall" |
1994 | Screen Two | The Good Thief | Episode: "All Things Bright and Beautiful" |
1995 | Buffalo Girls | Teddy Blue | Television film |
1995 | Saturday Night Live | Himself / Various Characters | Episode: "Gabriel Byrne/Alanis Morissette" |
1996 | Draíocht | Father | Television film |
1997 | Glenroe | Pat Barry | Episode: "Miley's New Bullock" |
1997 | Weapons of Mass Distraction | Lionel Powers | Television film |
2000 | Madigan Men | Ben Madigan | 12 episodes; also co-executive producer |
2008–2010 | In Treatment | Dr. Paul Weston | 106 episodes |
2012 | Secret State | Tom Dawkins | 4 episodes |
2013 | Vikings | Earl Haraldson | 6 episodes |
2014 | Quirke | Quirke | 3 episodes |
2016 | Marco Polo | Pope Gregory X | Episode: "Let God's Work Begin" |
2018 | Maniac | Porter Milgrim | 5 episodes |
2019–2022 | The War of the Worlds | Bill Ward | 24 episodes |
2020 | ZeroZeroZero | Edward Lynwood | 2 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | James 'Jim' Tyrone, Jr. | Walter Kerr Theatre (Broadway) | |
2002 | The Exonerated | Kerry Max Cook (replacement) | Bleecker Street Theatre (Off-Broadway) | [39] |
2005 | A Touch of the Poet | Cornelius Melody | Studio 54 (Broadway) | |
2008 | Camelot | King Arthur | Avery Fisher Hall | |
2016 | Long Day's Journey into Night | James Tyrone | American Airlines Theatre (Broadway) | |
2022 | Walking with Ghosts | Performer | Music Box Theatre (Broadway) |
Honours In 2007, NUI Galway awarded him an honorary doctorate for his outstanding contribution to Irish and international film, theatre and the arts.[ citation needed ]
William John Neeson is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed seventh on The Irish Times list of Ireland's 50 Greatest Film Actors. Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000.
Sir Michael John Gambon was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career, he received three Olivier Awards and four BAFTA TV Awards. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama.
Stephen Rea is an Irish actor of stage and screen. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he began his career as a member of Dublin’s Focus Theatre, and came to the attention of film audiences as one of the close collaborators of director Neil Jordan. He is an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Tony Award nominee, a two-time BAFTA Award winner, and a three-time Irish Film and Television (IFTA) Award winner.
Gabriel Mary Byrne was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's second longest-running chat show. He was affectionately known as "Uncle Gay", "Gaybo" or "Uncle Gaybo". His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce The Beatles on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on screen in 1993.
Cillian Murphy is an Irish actor. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 play Disco Pigs, a role he later reprised in the 2001 screen adaptation. His early film credits include the horror film 28 Days Later (2002), the dark comedy Intermission (2003), the thriller Red Eye (2005), the Irish war drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), and the science fiction thriller Sunshine (2007). He played a transgender Irish woman in the comedy-drama Breakfast on Pluto (2005), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Mary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film Dallas Doll (1994), and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She obtained her first leading film role in The Goddess of 1967 (2000), which brought her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and made the transition to American cinema in the small role of Dormé in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), followed by parts in Hollywood productions of Troy (2004), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and Knowing (2009).
Andrew James Clutterbuck, better known by his stage name Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was as the character Egg in the BBC drama This Life (1996–1997). Lincoln later portrayed Simon Casey in the Channel 4 sitcom Teachers (2001–2003), Mark in the Christmas-themed romantic comedy film Love Actually (2003) and Dr. Robert Bridge in the ITV television series Afterlife (2005–2006).
Andrew Scott is an Irish actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Television Award and two Laurence Olivier Awards, along with nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor and film director. He has received various accolades, including two British Independent Film Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number 18 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. He is the father of actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson.
Aidan Murphy, better known as Aidan Gillen, is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, and a Tony Award.
Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West is an English actor, director and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's The Wire (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's The Affair (2014–2019), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama nomination, Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew Fred in A Christmas Carol, and Charles, Prince of Wales, in the Netflix drama The Crown (2022–2023), the latter of which earned him another Golden Globe Award nomination.
Orla Brady is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. She has been nominated for several awards from the Irish Film & Television Academy for her work in televised programs, as well as starring in the RTÉ-BBC co-production A Love Divided, for which she won the 1999 Golden Nymph Best Actress Award. She began her career with the Balloonatics Theatre Company as a touring performer, later gaining her first television work in a minor role in the series Minder in 1993. Her first role in film was in Words Upon the Window Pane in 1994. Brady later appeared in recurring roles in a number of US and UK series and in two supporting character roles in the CBS-Paramount+ series, Star Trek: Picard. Brady appeared in the 2020 list of Ireland's greatest film actors, published by The Irish Times.
Ciarán Hinds is an Irish actor from Belfast. Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Persuasion (1995), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Road to Perdition (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Munich (2005), Amazing Grace (2007), There Will Be Blood (2007), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Silence (2016), First Man (2018) and Belfast (2021). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the last of these.
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen is a Scottish actor. He has appeared as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the Resident Evil film series (2004–2016) and as Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019). Other notable film and television roles include John Hanning Speke in Mountains of the Moon (1990), Larry Winters in Silent Scream (1990) for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival, Manfred Powell in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Brother John in Song for a Raggy Boy (2003), the title role in Jack Taylor (2010–2016), Sir Richard Carlisle in Downton Abbey (2011), James Willett in Eye in the Sky (2015), and Bruce Wayne in Titans (2019–2021).
Ruth Negga is an Irish actress known for her roles in the AMC television series Preacher (2016–2019) and the film Loving (2016). For her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the latter, Negga received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. For her Broadway debut as Lady Macbeth in a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth in 2022, she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Allen Leech is an Irish actor. He is widely known for his roles as Tom Branson in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015) and Paul Prenter in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).
Robert Sheehan is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in Misfits, Darren Treacy in Love/Hate, and Klaus Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy, as well as film roles such as Tom Natsworthy in Mortal Engines and Simon Lewis in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
Aidan Turner is an Irish actor. He began his career in the RTÉ medical drama The Clinic (2008–2009), and the BBC series Desperate Romantics (2009) and later gained attention for starring in Being Human (2009–2011). He starred as the eponymous character in the BBC adaptation of Winston Graham's Poldark (2015–2019). He also starred as Kíli in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014).
Domhnall Gleeson is an Irish actor and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, with whom he has appeared in a number of films and theatre projects. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Dublin Institute of Technology.
Paul Colm Michael Mescal is an Irish actor. Born in Maynooth, he studied acting at The Lir Academy and subsequently performed in plays in Dublin theatres. Mescal rose to fame with his role in the miniseries Normal People (2020), earning a BAFTA TV Award and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.
I'm what they call a recovering Catholic.