Barry Ward is an Irish actor. He began his career as a child actor 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, ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series ''

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

'' (1994) and ''

Plotlands ''Plotlands'' was a British period drama series was written and created by Jeremy Brock and that aired on BBC1 from 18 May to 22 June 1997. Produced by Wall to Wall for the BBC, it tells the story of several families who live in the fictional ...

'' (1997), and the film ''

Sunburn Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and other animals include red or reddish skin tha ...

'' (1999). His films since include '' Jimmy's Hall'', ''

Blood Cells A blood cell (also called a hematopoietic cell, hemocyte, or hematocyte) is a cell produced through hematopoiesis and found mainly in the blood. Major types of blood cells include red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), ...

'' (both 2014), '' Extra Ordinary'' (2019), and '' Dating Amber'' (2020), the latter of which won him an

IFTA Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Al ...

. On television, he is more recently known for his roles in the

series ''

Rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

'' (2016), '' Taken Down'' (2018) and '' Clean Sweep'' (2023), the

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

series ''

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

'' (2017–2019) and '' Save Me'' (2018–2020), and the BBC series '' The Capture'' (2019).

Early life and education

Ward grew up in

Blanchardstown Blanchardstown () is a large outer suburb of Dublin in the modern Counties of Ireland, county of Fingal, Ireland. Located northwest of Dublin city centre, it has developed since the 1960s from a small village to a point where Greater Blanchards ...

, a northwestern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

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 ...

. He went to school at St Declan's College in Cabra. He studied English and Philosophy at

NUI Maynooth Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

Career

Ward made his television debut as a child actor aged 14, starring as John Paul Spencer in the 1994

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

miniseries ''

''. He made his stage debut the following year in ''Buddleia'' at the Dublin Theatre Festival and London's

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

. He returned to television in the 1997 period drama ''

'' as Fionn Mulligan, also on BBC One. He made his feature film debut in

Pip Broughton Pip Broughton is an English film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter. Career Broughton began her career working in theatre, holding Artistic Directorships of Croydon Warehouse, Paines Plough and Nottingham Playhouse. Since 199 ...

's ''Soft Sand, Blue Sea'' in 1998. He then starred alongside

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy ( ; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. His works encompass both stage and screen, and his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 pl ...

and Paloma Baeza in the comedy-drama film ''

'' in 1999. In 2014, Ward played the titular role of

James Gralton James Gralton (17 April 1886 – 29 December 1945) was an Irish socialist leader who became a United States citizen after emigrating in 1909 and, later, the only Irishman ever deported from independent Ireland. Biography Early life James Gralt ...

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

's biographical film '' Jimmy's Hall'', which premiered at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, and Adam in Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull's drama film ''

'', which premiered

71st Venice International Film Festival The 71st annual Venice International Film Festival , was held from 27 August to 6 September 2014, at Venice Lido in Italy. French composer Alexandre Desplat was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actress Luisa Ranieri hoste ...

. He also appeared in the film '' Shooting for Socrates'', and then starred alongside Liam Cunningham and

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Aw ...

in the 2015 crime thriller film '' Pursuit''. In 2016, Ward had roles as Arthur Mahon in the RTÉ historical drama miniseries ''

'' and Dr Patrick Spencer in the third series of the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

crime drama '' The Fall''. He portrayed DUP politician

Ian Paisley Jr Ian Richard Kyle Paisley Jr (born 12 December 1966) is a Northern Irish businessman and former unionist politician. A member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Antrim from 2010 to 2024, ...

Nick Hamm Nick Hamm is a filmmaker born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He won a BAFTA for his drama ''The Harmfulness of Tobacco'' starring Edward Fox. Hamm's most recent films, '' The Journey'' starring Timothy Spall and Colm Meaney, and '' Driven'' star ...

's '' The Journey'', and appeared in

Mateo Gil Mateo Gil Rodríguez (born 23 September 1972, Las Palmas, Spain) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, second unit director, assistant director, cinematographer, editor and producer. He co-wrote most of Alejandro Amenábar's films with him ...

's science fiction film '' Realive''. The following year, he starred in the film ''

Maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

'', and as Sawyer the first series of the

series ''

''. This was followed by a main role as Matt in the

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

crime drama '' Taken Down'', and a recurring role as Barry McGory in the

drama '' Save Me''. He played Charlie Hall in the first series of the BBC One thriller '' The Capture'', in 2019 and starred in the horror comedy film '' Extra Ordinary''. For his performance in the 2020 film '' Dating Amber'', Ward won the

IFTA Award The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

for Best Supporting Actor. Also in 2020, he played DI Steve McCusker in the ITV miniseries '' Des'' and Mike Walker in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' White Lines''. He portrayed

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

in the Channel 5 series ''

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

'' in 2021.

Personal life

Ward lives in East London.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Barry Ward
at Spotlight {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Barry Living people 20th-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male actors Alumni of Maynooth University Male actors from Dublin (city) Irish expatriates in England Irish male film actors Irish male television actors Irish male stage actors People educated at St Declan's College, Dublin Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)