Eleanore Deirdre O'Connell (16 June 1939 – 9 June 2001) was an Irish American actress, singer, and theatre director who founded the Focus Theatre 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 ...

, Ireland.

Biography

O'Connell was born in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

district of New York City, one of five children whose parents were Irish immigrants. When she finished school, she pursued her interest in theatre studying first at

Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and Theatrical producer, producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio- ...

Dramatic Workshop Dramatic Workshop was the name of a drama and acting school associated with the New School for Social Research in New York City. The German expatriate stage director Erwin Piscator began a long association with the school in 1940. Among the facul ...

, New York City, and later at the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

run by

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American acting coach and actor. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed ...

. In her early twenties, O'Connell moved to

, Ireland, where she set up the Stanislavski Studio at the Pocket Theatre. There she trained a small company of actors in

Stanislavski's system Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing ...

. In 1967, she founded the Focus Theatre, becoming its manager, artistic director, and fundraiser—as well as acting in many of its productions."Single-minded actor behind Focus Theatre", ''The Irish Times'', 16 June 2001 She was a noted folk-singer and performed at the

Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder Geor ...

. She married the Irish singer

Luke Kelly Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become ...

in June 1965, but they separated in the early 1970s. O'Connell died of cancer at her home in Dublin at the age of 61 and is buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...

.Exit, stage left
''Sunday Independent'', 17 June 2001,

References

External links

Deirdre O'Connell at Irish Playography
1939 births 2001 deaths Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Irish folk singers Irish stage actresses Irish theatre directors Irish women theatre directors Irish theatre managers and producers People from the Bronx Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland 20th-century Irish women singers Actresses from County Dublin {{Ireland-actor-stub

Biography

Further reading

References

External links