John Emmet Bergin (3 June 1944 – 15 March 2024) was an Irish actor, best known for playing Dick Moran in the soap opera ''

Glenroe ''Glenroe'' is an Irish television soap opera broadcast on RTÉ One for 18 years between September 1983 and May 2001. ''Glenroe was'' centred on the lives of the people living in the fictional rural village of the same name in County Wicklow. ...

''. First appearing in the role in 1983, he played it continually until 2001.

Early life

Bergin was born in

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

. His father, Paddy Bergin, had worked for Carlow Sugar Factory and was a trade union official and Labour Party politician. He was a

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

's nominee to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

from 1954 to 1957. This appointment resulted in the family moving to

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 ...

. Bergin was educated at CBS Westland Row but left school at the age of 15 and got a job delivering newspapers.

Career

Bergin took acting lessons at the Brendan Smith Academy. His first job in theatre was as prompter and assistant stage manager in the

Eblana Theatre The Eblana Theatre in Ireland was situated in the basement of Busáras, Dublin's central bus station. A small theatre seating 225–240 people, it had no wings, nor other common items of theatrical architecture having been adapted from a short ...

. Bergin toured with the Irish Theatre Company, before signing up to the Abbey School of Acting. He was cast as Joe in the first production of

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription requ ...

’s Philadelphia, Here I Come! in the Gaiety Theatre in 1964. Bergin's other stage roles in the following years included parts in

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

's '' True West'',

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. Early life O'Casey was ...

's '' The Silver Tassie'', and

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage.Meyer, Michael Lever ...

''. One of Bergin's first film roles was a small part in ''

Ryan's Daughter ''Ryan's Daughter'' is a 1970 British epic romantic drama film directed by David Lean and written by Robert Bolt. Loosely inspired by Gustave Flaubert's 1857 novel ''Madame Bovary'', the film stars Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles as a married ...

'' in 1969. He played Sir Ulfius in

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

in 1981. Two years later Bergin became a household name when he was cast in the role of solicitor Dick Moran 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 ''

''. One of his and the soap's biggest storylines was an extra-marital affair with Terry Killeen. Bergin later appeared in the medical drama series '' The Clinic'' and was cast as '' Sunday Independent'' editor Aengus Fanning in ''

Veronica Guerin Veronica Guerin Turley (5 July 1959 – 26 June 1996) was an Irish investigative journalist focusing on organised crime in Ireland, who was murdered in a contract killing believed to have been ordered by a South Dublin-based drug cartel. Bor ...

'' in 2003.

Personal life and death

Bergin married his wife Sarah on 25 March 1969, and had a son and a daughter. His son received a suspended sentence for dealing drugs in 2000. His brother,

Patrick Bergin Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer. In 1991, he starred opposite Julia Roberts in '' Sleeping with the Enemy'' and played the title character in ''Robin Hood''. His other roles include terrorist Kevin O' ...

, is also an actor. Bergin died on 15 March 2024, at the age of 79.

Selected filmography

* ''

Flight of the Doves ''Flight of the Doves'' is a 1971 British Eastmancolor children's film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Jack Wild, Dorothy McGuire and Stanley Holloway. It was written by Frank Gabrielson and Nelson, based on the 1967 novel of the same titl ...

'' (1971) * ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the second book and first novel of Irish writer James Joyce, published in 1916. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Ste ...

'' (1977) * ''

'' (1981) * ''Glenroe'' (1983) * ''

Soldier Soldier ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. Created by Lucy Gannon, produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 10 June 1991 to 9 December 1997. It ...

'' (1991) * ''

'' (2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergin, Emmet 1944 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male actors Irish male film actors Irish male television actors