Niall O'Brien (8 February 1946 – 25 February 2009) was an Irish actor and member of 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 ...

company, where he appeared in 130 productions. He also appeared in many films and television programmes.

Early life

O'Brien was born to Maureen (née Wright) and Michael O'Brien on 8 February 1946. He was the youngest of five children. He was born in

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...

village,

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, and grew up in nearby

Glasthule Glasthule ( ; ) is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is along County Dublin, County Dublin’s south coast, between Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove, Glenageary and Dalkey. Amenities Sandycove and Glasthule are served by a number ...

. He was educated at the CBS Westland Row, Dublin, before going on to join the Abbey School of acting.

Career

After completing his Leaving Certificate, O'Brien started a building apprenticeship. Upon being accepted to the Abbey School of acting in the mid-1960s however, he took a year out of his apprenticeship to try a career as an actor and never went back to the construction industry. In his career as an Abbey actor he took part in 130 theatre productions, including 27 world premiers. His first part was in the play ''Galileo'' in 1965. His last Abbey performance was appearing as Tom Mooney in Drama at Inis-''Is Life Worth Living'' (2005). Niall toured internationally with the Abbey in Europe, Russia and much of the US. In 1994 he appeared in a play by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy called "Katie Roche" where he played the part of Frank Lawlor. O'Brien also appeared in numerous television and film productions throughout his career. These include the parts of Bernard 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 ...

'' (1971), Kay 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 ...

'' (1981), Owen McCarthy in ''The Year of the French'' (1982), Agent Rurik in ''Gorky Park'' (1983), Captain Twilley in ''Half Moon St'' (1986), Det. Insp. Isaac Gissing in ''Rawhead Rex'' (1986), Police Superintendent in ''The Playboys'' (1992), Josie McCarthy in ''Broken Harvest'' (1995) and Mr Moss in ''Vanity Fair'' (2004). He also appeared in single episodes of TV series ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

'', '' Boon'', ''

A Touch of Frost ''A Touch of Frost'' is a British television detective mystery drama series starring David Jason produced by Yorkshire Television (later ITV Studios) for ITV from 6 December 1992 until 5 April 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. ...

'', '' Bachelors Walk'' and ''

The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...

''. In 2007 he was directed in the short film Teeth by his son, Ruairí O'Brien. This film went on to win awards at the

Galway Film Fleadh The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Ire ...

and

Brest European Short Film Festival The Brest European Short Film Festival (French language, French: Festival européen du film court de Brest) is a film festival dedicated to short films, happening every year in Brest, France, Brest, in the Brittany region in France. It has been ...

Personal life

He married Brigid Sinnott and they had four children, residing from 1984 in Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Death

O'Brien died at home on 25 February 2009, from cancer, after a 20-month-long illness.

Filmography

Playography

* Katie Roche 1994

References

External links

* *Niall O'Brien a
The Abbey Theatre Archives
*Niall O'Brien a
The Teresa Deevy ArchiveTeeth - short film on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Niall 1946 births 2009 deaths Male actors from County Dublin Irish male stage actors Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland