Frank O'Donovan (10 October 1900 – 28 June 1974) was an Irish actor, singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for playing the character of Batty Brennan for 10 years in Ireland's first TV soap, ''

The Riordans ''The Riordans'' was the second Irish television drama serial made by Raidio Telefís Éireann (then called ''Telefís Éireann''). It ran from 1965 to 1979 and was set in the fictional townland of Leestown in County Kilkenny. Its location fil ...

''.

Personal life

He 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 ...

, Ireland to a family interested in amateur dramatics, which included his brother

Harry O'Donovan Harry O'Donovan (c. 1896 – 3 November 1973) was an Irish comedy scriptwriter, stage manager and actor. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland and was apprenticed to a painter. In his spare time, he took part in amateur dramatics, finally joinin ...

. In the 1940s he set up his own acting company and for years toured Ireland and England with the "Frank O'Donovan Show" or the "Dublin Follies". While on the road he composed and sang songs. In 1940 he recorded "The Road by the River" which was later covered by many singers in Ireland, including Margo O'Donnell who had a hit with it in 1968, and T.R. Dallas. His song "On the One Road" was adopted by the Irish Army as its official song in 1943. Other popular evergreens composed by him were "Sitting on the bridge below the town" and "Little White Cross". He appeared in the films '' Murder in Eden'' (1961), ''

Johnny Nobody ''Johnny Nobody'' is a 1961 British drama film made by Viceroy Films Limited, with John R. Sloan as producer, and Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli as executive producers. It was directed by the British film and stage actor Nigel Patrick, who ...

'' (1961), ''The Quare Fellow'' (adaptation of

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

, 1962) and ''

Flight of the Doves ''Flight of the Doves'' is a 1971 British Eastmancolor children's film based on the novel by Irish writer Walter Macken. The film, based and filmed in Ireland, was written by Frank Gabrielson and Ralph Nelson, with Nelson also directing. Plot T ...

'' (1971).

Family

He married the actress Kitty McMahon. They had two daughters together, Deirdre (b. 1928) and Máirín (b. 1936). Máirín O'Donovan became a singer, dancer and actress. He had 5 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Songs

*"The Road by the River" *"On the One Road" *"Sitting on the Bridge Below the Town" *"Little White Cross"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonovan, Frank 1900 births 1974 deaths Irish male stage actors Irish male songwriters Irish male film actors Male actors from Dublin (city) Singers from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish male actors 20th-century Irish male singers