Hugh O'Conor

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Hugh O'Conor
Hugh O'Conor at JDIFF 2014.jpg
O'Conor at JDIFF 2014
Born (1975-04-19) 19 April 1975 (age 50)
Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)Actor, director, writer
Years active1985–present
Website hughoconor.com

Hugh O'Conor (born 19 April 1975) is an Irish actor, writer, director, and photographer. In 2020, he was listed as number 49 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. [1]

Contents

Career

His first film appearance was opposite Liam Neeson in the 1985 movie Lamb .

He won a Young Artist Awards in 1990 for his role in the Oscar-winning film My Left Foot , in which he portrayed the childhood days of Christy Brown, an Irishman born with cerebral palsy, who could control only his left foot. The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, and won two: Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor and Brenda Fricker for Best Supporting Actress. [2] In his acceptance speech, Day-Lewis said he "shared Christy's life with a remarkable young actor called Hugh O'Conor". [3]

He starred in Benjamin Ross' The Young Poisoner's Handbook as murderer Graham Young, [4] which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995. [5]

He was nominated as part of the cast for Outstanding Performance by a Cast at the 2001 SAG-AFTRA awards for his performance as Pére Henri in Chocolat (2000). The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture. It was also nominated for eight BAFTAs and four Golden Globes, both including Best Picture. [2]

In 2007, he was nominated for Best Actor at the Irish Film and Television Awards for his performance as James Van Der Bexton in Tony Herbert's Speed Dating (2006). [6]

His short film Corduroy was selected for competition as part of the Generation 14Plus presentation at the 60th Berlinale in Berlin. It received the award for Best Fiction/Experimental Film at the 2010 Clones Film Festival.

In 2011, his music videos for I Draw Slow (Swans) and The Whileaways (Dear My Maker) were nominated for the Irish Music Video awards.

He was part of the creative and performing team for RTE's sketch comedy Your Bad Self (2010), along with Domhnall Gleeson and Amy Huberman; the show won Best Entertainment at the 2011 Irish Film and Television Awards. [6]

His photograph Beckah, Dublin Airport was shortlisted and exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland as part of the inaugural Hennessy Portrait Prize in 2014. [7]

In 2014, he received the Best Supporting Actor award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards for his performance as the Fool in Selina Cartmell's production of King Lear at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. [8]

In 2018, his feature debut Metal Heart and animated short film The Overcoat premiered at the 2018 Galway Film Fleadh. Jordanne Jones won the Bingham Ray award for Best Newcomer. The Overcoat won Best Animated Sequence. [9]

In 2018, he received the Jim Sheridan Award for Achievement in Irish Film at the Irish Screen America film festival in Los Angeles.

He received the Dublin Film Critics' Circle Maverick award at the 2019 Dublin International Film Festival. The Overcoat received a special mention. [10]

He was nominated for the Independent Spirit award at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival for Metal Heart. [6]

Personal life

O'Conor was born on 19 April 1975 in Dublin, Ireland, and is the son of noted Irish pianist John O'Conor.

He studied drama at the Samuel Beckett Centre in Trinity College Dublin, and received a Fulbright scholarship to attend NYU Film School.

Filmography

Hugh O'Conor in 2007 Hugh O'Conor 2007.jpg
Hugh O'Conor in 2007
Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1985 Lamb Owen Kane
1986 Rawhead Rex Robbie Hallenbeck
1988 Da Boy Charlie
1989 My Left Foot Young Christy Brown
1993 Red Hot Yuri
1993 The Three Musketeers King Louis
1994 Words Upon the Window Pane Cabin Boy
1995 The Young Poisoner's Handbook Graham Young
1996 The Boy from Mercury Paul
1997Sawdust TalesIsaac
2000 Hotel Splendide Stanley Smith
2000 Chocolat Father Henri
2002 Deathwatch Anthony Bradford
2003 Coney Island Baby Satchmo
2003Il compagno americanoMuffa
2003 Bloom Stephen Dedalus
2004 Blueberry Young Mike BlueberryAKA, Renegade
2005The Unusual Inventions of Henry CavendishMr. Henry CavendishShort film
2005GeorgeShort film
2007 Botched Dmitry
2007Speed DatingJames Van Der Bexton
2007 Waiting for Dublin Twickers
2008 Flick Johnny 'Flick' Taylor
2008 Summer of the Flying Saucer Father Burke
2008 A Film with Me in It Detective
2008The Man InsideAnnoying Guy (voice)Short film
2010Miss Remarkable & her CareerBoyfriend (voice)Short film
2010 Reuniting the Rubins Yona Rubin
2011 Killing Bono Gary
2013 The Stag Fionnan
2013 A Terrible Beauty Lt. Arthur Dickson
2015Shem the Penman Sings Again James Joyce
2015 Pilgrimage Brother Cathal
2016Handsome DevilDr. Eoin Mee
2016Property of the StateFr. Joe Walsh
2017Mary Shelley Samuel Taylor Coleridge
2018Sonja The White SwanWinnie
2019FritziVoice of Dad
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1984 The Irish R.M. Jim DonovanEpisode: "Oweneen the Sprat"
1991 Perfect Scoundrels LiamEpisode: "The Carpetbaggers"
1998 30 Years to Life Vinnie DawsonTV film
2002Fergus's WeddingSex Shop AssistantEpisode: "1.3"
2005ShowbandsKarlTV film
2006Showbands IIKarlTV film
2007 Northanger Abbey James MorlandTV film
2008 10 Days to War MagooEpisode: "Our Business Is North"
2009Psych WardDanny O'HaganRecurring role (4 episodes)
2009 Wild Decembers The CrockTV film
2010 Your Bad Self 6 episodes
2010 Lewis Father JasperEpisode: "The Dead of Winter"
2010Three Wise WomenTomTV film
2011 Garrow's Law Cathal FoleyEpisode: "3.2"
2012Saving the TitanicJonathan ShepherdTV film
2012 Moone Boy ElfEpisode: "Dark Side of the Moone"
2013 Ripper Street EaglesEpisode:In My Protection
2013A Terrible Beauty...Lt. Arthur DicksonTV film
2015 The Frankenstein Chronicles James Hogg
2016 The Fall Dr. LucasSeries 3
2019 Resistance Dr. Laurence Moore

Film and television as writer and director

YearTitleNotes
2018 Metal Heart Director, film
2010 Your Bad Self Writer, TV series
2009Corduroy
2008Spacemen Three
2001Guilty of LoveAlso producer

References

  1. Clarke, Donald; Brady, Tara. "The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order". The Irish Times .
  2. 1 2 "My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown – IMDb". IMDb.
  3. "Daniel Day-Lewis – 1990 Oscar Speech". YouTube . 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.
  4. Ebert, Roger (19 April 1996). "The Young Poisoner's Handbook movie review (1996)". Chicago Sun-Times via Rogerebert.com.
  5. Sharf, Zack (17 January 2018). "Sundance Film Festival: Every Grand Jury Drama Prize Winner in History". IndieWire .
  6. 1 2 3 "Hugh O'Conor". IMDb.
  7. "Actor O'Conor makes Portrait Prize shortlist". Irish Independent. 7 November 2014.
  8. "Irish Times Theatre Awards". The Irish Times.
  9. Clarke, Donald. "The best films from the 30th Galway Film Fleadh". The Irish Times.
  10. Clarke, Donald. "Jessie Buckley and Hugh O'Conor scoop Dublin film festival prizes". The Irish Times.