Maggie Cronin

Last updated

Maggie Cronin
Education Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupations
  • Actress
  • playwright
Television Doctors
Spouse
Frank Martin
​
(m. 1993)​
[1]
Website maggiecronin.com

Maggie Cronin is an Irish actress and playwright, known for her role as Kate McGuire in the BBC soap opera Doctors , which she appeared in from 2000 to 2004, with a brief appearance in 2006. Cronin has also written one-woman shows that she has toured across the UK, as well as appearing in various other stage productions.

Contents

Early and personal life

The eldest of four children born to Irish parents, Cronin grew up in Dagenham. Her mother, from County Clare, was a midwife and her father, from County Cork, was a foundryman at Ford. Cronin went to secondary school in Forest Gate, obtained a degree at Nene College Northampton, then trained as an actress at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Cronin has lived in Belfast with her husband, Frank Martin, since 1993. [2] He is an editor for BBC Northern Ireland. [3]

Career

Cronin began her performing career as a singer part of an acapella group, Draylon Underground. [4] Her first acting credit came in 1993 when she appeared in an episode of the ITV procedural drama series The Bill . She then appeared in United, which won a BAFTA TV Award. [1] Cronin then ventured into theatre, writing a one-woman show, A Most Notorious Woman directed by Paddy Scully. It premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1989 and subsequently toured over a number of years through the UK, Ireland and the US. [2] Her script won the Stewart Parker Trust/BBC Radio Drama Award for 1995 and was published by Lagan Press in 2004. [5] She has since written other productions, including: Ties That Bind, Ten Days That Shook Belfast and Shrieking Sisters: The History Of Ireland’s Suffragist Movement (co-written with Carol Moor). The latter toured throughout Northern Ireland. [2]

Cronin was then cast in the BBC daytime medical soap opera Doctors as practice manager Kate McGuire. [6] She was one of nine original regular cast members to be cast on the soap. [7] She commuted from Belfast to Birmingham for the role. [1] She opted to leave the series in 2004, later making a brief appearance in 2006 to aid the exit of her onscreen husband, Mac McGuire (Christopher Timothy). [8] Cronin's second one-woman show, Greenstick Boy, directed by Sarah Tipple, previewed at the Brian Friel Theatre in March 2008, as well as the Assembly Rooms at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2008. It was later performed in Dublin in 2010. [9] The short film The Shore , directed by Terry George, in which she appears with Ciarán Hinds, Conleth Hill and Kerry Condon, won the Academy award in the Short Film, Live Action category at the 84th Academy Awards in February 2012. [10]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1993 The Bill Gina1 episode
1998UnitedTelevision short
1999PicnicFredaShort film
2000Somethings I Don't KnowTeacherTelevision film
2000–2004, 2006 Doctors Kate McGuire Regular role
2005 Holby City Bel FerrisEpisode: "7 Days Later"
2009ScapegoatDoris CurranTelevision film
2010MarúLaura CrossEpisode: "The Murder of Laura Cross"
2011 The Shore MaryShort film
2011Stand OffAlice WellerFilm
2011Going BackLorraine McNallyShort film
2012A Year of Greater LoveSarahTelevision film
2013To Lose ControlSusan WilliamsShort film
2013 A Belfast Story SineadFilm
2014 Shooting for Socrates LandladyFilm
2014The Light of My EyesSarahShort film
2015 High-Rise Mrs MunrowFilm
2015 The Frankenstein Chronicles BetsyEpisode: "The Fortune of War"
2016 My Mother and Other Strangers Ellen QuinnEpisodes: "The Price" and "Golden Gloves"
2017 Zoo MatronFilm
2017ChancerShort film
2019 Ordinary Love Glamorous WomanFilm
2020 Pablo Pablo's Granny2 episodes
2021Gravest HitJosieShort film
2021 Zone 414 Authoritative WomanFilm

Stage

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References

  1. 1 2 3 McIlwaine, Eddie (22 November 2000). "Maggie's new role is just what the Doctors ordered". Belfast Telegraph . Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Write On! Interviews: Writer Maggie Cronin". Pen to Print. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  3. ↑ McCavana, Sinead (8 December 2002). "Ah mother of God Maggie, not a Priest!" . Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  4. ↑ "Biography of Maggie Cronin". Maggie Cronin.
  5. ↑ "Maggie Cronin". Nova Artists. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "Doctors go on call". BBC News . Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Doctors [@BBCDoctors] (23 March 2020). "How many of our original cast did you remember? Don't forget - Doctors is 20 on Thursday, and we're celebrating with an explosive hour long episode..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ "Kate McGuire". BBC . Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Greenstick Boy". Theatricalia. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Belfast man Terry George celebrates Oscar success". Bbc.co.uk. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
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