Eamon Morrissey (born 25 January 1943) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

actor, best known for his comic performances on stage and television. He currently plays Cass Cassidy in ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several award ...

''.

Early life

An only child, Morrissey was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and grew up in the suburb of

Ranelagh Ranelagh ( , ; ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of D06. History The district was originally a village known as Cullenswood just outside Dublin, surrounded by lande ...

. His parents encouraged his early interest in stage performance and he won several medals for his recitations at the

Feis Ceoil Feis Ceoil ( ; "Festival of Music") is an Irish music organisation which holds an annual competitive festival of classical music. It was first organised in Dublin in 1897 by Dr. Annie Patterson and Edward Martyn for the purpose of stimulating musi ...

."Eamon Morrissey: the Brother and the Dama", ''The Irish Times''. 19 December 1987. While still in his teens and a pupil at

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Canon ...

, Morrissey worked part-time as a

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

in various Dublin theatres. He left school before sitting the

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

in order to try his hand at acting in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

."'A pint of plain' is not his only man", ''The Irish Times''. 18 February 1987. After spending several years there doing odd jobs, he was chosen for the part of Ned, the emigrant, in the 1964 world première 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 req ...

's ''

Philadelphia, Here I Come! ''Philadelphia, Here I Come!'' is a 1964 play by Irish dramatist Brian Friel. Set in the fictional town of Ballybeg, County Donegal, the play launched Friel onto the international stage. Plot ''Philadelphia, Here I Come!'' centres around Gareth ...

''."EAMON MORRISSEY", ''The Irish Times''. 21 June 1980.

Career

Stage

''Philadelphia, Here I Come!'' later became a huge success on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Morrissey enjoyed a lengthy sojourn in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as a member of the cast. In July 1967, another Friel play, '' Lovers'', opened at the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Ge ...

in Dublin with Morrissey in the leading role of Joe. In 1974, Morrissey adapted the satirical writings of

Brian O'Nolan Brian O'Nolan ( ga, Brian Ó Nualláin; 5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966), better known by his pen name Flann O'Brien, was an Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth ce ...

into a successful one-man show entitled ''The Brother''. In his two-hour solo performance, Morrissey portrays a "porter-swilling, nose-picking pub philosopher with ingenious solutions to the world's problems". ''The Brother'' continues to be an enduring hit with audiences throughout the world. Morrissey went on to create two more one-man shows, ''Patrick Gulliver'', drawn from the works of

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

, and ''Joycemen'', which features various characters from

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

''.

Television

In 1977, Morrissey won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for his performances in Frank Hall's long-running satirical TV series, ''

Hall's Pictorial Weekly ''Hall's Pictorial Weekly'' was an Irish satirical television series broadcast on Raidió Teilifís Éireann from 1971 to 1980. Regarded as RTÉ's flagship comedy show, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories, politics and pop ...

''. Each week he appeared as a variety of grotesque characters, most notably The Minister for Hardship (based on the then-

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, Richie Ryan). Two decades later, he appeared as Father Derek Beeching in "

Speed 3 "Speed 3" is the third episode of the third series of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted'' and the 20th episode overall. The episode parodies the action-thriller film ''Speed'' and the sequel '' Speed 2: Cruise Control''. "Speed 3" was written af ...

", an episode of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until ...

''. In 2009, Morrissey returned to prime-time Irish television as Cass Cassidy in the

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, ''

''. In 2011, Morrissey was among the nominees for Best Supporting Actor at the annual

Irish Film and Television Awards Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

(IFTAs) for his role in ''Fair City''."Gleesons make Ifta family affair", ''The Irish Times''. 11 January 2011.

Film

Morrissey's most significant movie appearance to date came in 1986 when he took the central role of Arthur in Peter Ormrod's ''

Eat the Peach ''Eat the Peach'' is a 1986 Irish comedy film, directed by Peter Ormrod. The title derives from the T. S. Eliot poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." It was written by Peter Ormrod with John Kelleher. Filming ''Eat The Peach'' was filme ...

''.

References

External links

*
Eamon Morrissey
at The Agency
Eamon Morrissey
at Irish Playography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrissey, Eamon 1943 births Living people Irish male film actors Irish male soap opera actors Irish male stage actors Irish male television actors Jacob's Award winners People educated at Synge Street CBS Male actors from Dublin (city) People from Ranelagh