Janet Behan
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Janet Behan (22 July 1954) is an English-Irish writer and actress.


Biography

Behan was born in London, the daughter of an Irish father Brian Behan and an English mother Celia Behan. Her father was a playwright, the great-nephew of the songwriter
Peadar Kearney Peadar Kearney ( ; 12 December 1883 – 24 November 1942) was an Irish republican and composer of numerous rebel songs. In 1907 he wrote the lyrics to "A Soldier's Song" (), now the Irish national anthem. He was the uncle of Irish writers Bren ...
(author of
Amhrán na bhFiann "" (), or in English, "The Soldier's Song", is the national anthem of Ireland. The music was composed by Peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeney, the original English lyrics written by Kearney, and the Irish-language translation, now usually the ...
, the Irish national anthem), and brother of the writers
Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican, an activist who wrote in both English and Irish. His widely ackno ...
and
Dominic Behan Dominic Behan ( ; ; 22 October 1928 – 3 August 1989) was an Irish writer, songwriter and singer from Dublin who wrote in Irish and English. He was a socialist and an Irish republican. Born into the literary Behan family, he was one of the mo ...
. Her husband is the television director
Dermot Boyd Dermot Boyd is a Northern Irish-born television director. Programmes he has directed include: ''The Return'', ''Four Fathers'', '' Feather Boy'', ''Johnny and the Bomb'', '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'', ''Rough Diamond'', ''Whistleblower'', ''Casualty'', ...
. Her siblings include journalist Rosemary Behan, writer and musician Ruth Behan, and poet Daniel Tobias Behan. Behan trained first as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and appeared in numerous plays and on television, including a role in Eastenders and productions at the National Theatre. In 2011, her play ''Brendan At The Chelsea'' was produced at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, with
Adrian Dunbar Adrian Dunbar (born 1 August 1958) is an Irish actor, director, and singer from Northern Ireland, known for his television and theatre work. He co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film '' Hear My Song'', nominated for Best Original Screenplay at t ...
starring. The production went on to tour New York and Dublin, to critical acclaim. The play was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2014, and Behan appeared in an RTE television documentary 'Brendan Behan - The Roaring Boy', alongside Adrian Dunbar."http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/iur.2014.0102"http://www.rte.ie/player/gb/show/brendan-behan-the-roaring-boy-30003106/10528073/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbKUS99zm58 In 2016, Behan premiered her new one-woman play 'Realtine / Noreen' at the Camden Fringe, Tristan Bates theatre.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behan, Janet 1954 births 21st-century English writers English actresses Living people Behan family Writers from London Actresses from London