Edward D. "Éamonn" Draper (1940 – 27 December 2023) was an Irish actor and director.

Biography

Edward D. Draper was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

but grew up in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. A schoolboy interest in drama, developed by one of his teachers, saw him acting in the

Cork Opera House Cork Opera House is a theatre and opera house in Cork in Ireland. The first venue opened in 1855 on Emmet Place (then known as Nelson's Place) to the rear of the Crawford Art Gallery. This original building was destroyed by fire in 1955, and ...

at a young age. Draper later studied Irish at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

, before joining the Defence Forces. He was commissioned with the 35th Cadet Class of 1961–62 and held the rank of Captain. Draper continued his involvement with drama on an amateur level during his time in the

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

. He left in 1968 to pursue a professional acting career, and worked in Irish language productions with the Daimler Theatre and with the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

. Draper secured his biggest television role in 1970 when he was cast as garage owner Willie Mahony in the

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

soap opera ''

The Riordans ''The Riordans'' is an Irish television Soap opera broadcast on RTÉ from 1965 to 1979 set in the fictional townland of Leestown in County Kilkenny. Its location filming with outside broadcast units, rather than using only television studios ...

''. He also had a close association as an actor and director with An Taibhdhearc in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

. Draper's other acting credits include ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster RTE, it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several awards and is both the most po ...

'', ''

Ros na Rún () is an Irish soap opera produced for the Irish-language television channel TG4. The series is set in a fictional village called Ros na Rún, located near to An Spidéal, where the series is filmed. It focuses on the domestic and professional ...

'', ''

Killinaskully ''Killinaskully'' is an Irish television comedy series which details the bizarre goings-on in a fictitious Irish village called Killinaskully located in the hills of Ireland. It was actually filmed on location in the villages of Killoscully an ...

'', ''

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'', ''

An Crisis ''An Crisis'' ("The Crisis", using the Irish article and the English noun) is an Irish comedy television series which was first broadcast on TG4 in 2010 as a six-part miniseries satirising the inner workings of an Irish-language quango. It wa ...

'' and ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''. Draper died in Cork on 27 December 2023, at the age of 83.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Draper, Eamonn 1940 births 2023 deaths Irish male soap opera actors Irish male television actors 20th-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male actors Male actors from Dublin (city)