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

Biography

Behan was born in London, the daughter of Irish parents Celia Behan and

Brian Behan Brian Behan ( ; ga, Brian Ó Beacháin; 10 November 1926 – 2 November 2002) was an Irish writer, public speaker, lecturer, and trade unionist. Early years Behan was born in Dublin, the son of Stephen Behan and Kathleen Behan (née Kearney) ...

. Her father was a playwright, while her mother was the great-niece of the songwriter

Peadar Kearney Peadar Kearney ( ga, Peadar Ó Cearnaígh ; 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" ( ga, "Amhrán na bhFiann", italics=no), now the ...

(author of

Amhrán na bhFiann "" (), called "The Soldier's Song" in English, is Ireland's national anthem. The music was composed by Peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeney, the original English lyrics by Kearney, and the Irish-language translation, now usually the version hea ...

, the Irish national anthem), and niece of the writers

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 and ...

and

Dominic Behan Dominic Behan ( ; ga, Doiminic Ó Beacháin; 22 October 1928 – 3 August 1989) was an Irish people, Irish songwriter, singer, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in Irish and English. He was also a socialist and an Irish repu ...

. 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 a Northern Irish actor, director and singer, known for his television and his theatre work. Dunbar co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film ''Hear My Song'', nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BAF ...

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 English writers English actresses Living people