Joseph Tomelty (5 March 1911 – 7 June 1995) was an Irish actor, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and theatre manager. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage. starring in

Sam Thompson Samuel Luther "Big Sam" Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922) was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At , the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known ...

's 1960 play ''Over the Bridge''.

Life and career

Born in

Portaferry Portaferry () is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Flo ...

(Ireland at the time, now Northern Ireland) in 1911, he was the son of James Tomelty; a skilled fiddler who was nicknamed "Rollicking". Tomelty's exposure to music at a young age influenced his work as a playwright with several of his stage works were named after songs, including ''The Singing Bird'' (1948), ''Down the Heather Glen'' (1953) and ''The Drunken Sailor'' (1954). His brother, Peter Tomelty, was a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and recording artist. He married Lena Milligan in 1942.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaryjoseph-to melty-1586249.html They had two daughters together;

Frances Tomelty Frances Tomelty (born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits include '' Strangers'' (1978–1979), ''Testament of Youth'' (1979), ''Inspector Morse'' (1988), '' Cracker'' (1993), ''The Amazing Mrs Pritchard ...

is an actress and the first wife of singer and musician

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, while Roma Tomelty was also an actress.

Works

Plays

*''Barnum Was Right'' (1939) *''Idolatry at Inishargie'' (1942) *''Poor Errand'' (1943) *''Right Again Barnum'' (1943) *''The End House'' (1944) *''All Souls' Night'' (1948) *''The Singing Bird'' (1948) *''Down the Heather Glen'' (1953) *''April in Assagh'' (1954) *''The Drunken Sailor'' (1954) *''Is the Priest at Home?'' (1954) *''A Year in Marlfield'' (1965)

Novels

*''Red Is the Port Light'' (1948) *''The Apprentice'' (1953)

Radio

*''Barnum Is Right'' (1938) *''Elopement'' (1939) *''The McCooeys'' (1948)

Complete filmography

* ''

Odd Man Out ''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade polic ...

'' (1947) - 'Gin' Jimmy, the cabbie * ''Shark Island'' (1951) - Seán * '' Treasure Hunt'' (1952) - Poacher * ''

The Sound Barrier ''The Sound Barrier'' is a 1952 British aviation drama film directed by David Lean. It is a fictional story about attempts by aircraft designers and test pilots to break the sound barrier. It was David Lean's third and final film with his wife ...

'' (1952) - Will Sparks * ''

You're Only Young Twice ''You're Only Young Twice'' was a British TV sitcom made and broadcast on the ITV network by Yorkshire Television from 6 September 1977 to 4 August 1981. Plot Set in Paradise Lodge retirement home, ''You're Only Young Twice'' was created and ...

'' (1952) - Dan McEntee * ''

The Gentle Gunman ''The Gentle Gunman'' is a 1952 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring John Mills, Dirk Bogarde and Elizabeth Sellars. The film is based on a 1950 play of the same title by Roger MacDougall that was televised by the BBC in Se ...

'' (1952) - Dr Brannigan * ''The Gentle Maiden'' (1953 TV movie) - John Clarke * '' The Oracle'' (1953) - Terry Roche * '' Melba'' (1953) - Thomas Mitchell * ''

Meet Mr. Lucifer ''Meet Mr. Lucifer'' is a black-and-white British comedy satire film released in 1953 starring Stanley Holloway. It was filmed at Ealing Studios, London, and is one of the Ealing comedies. The film is based on the play ''Beggar My Neighbour'' by ...

'' (1953) - Mr. Pedelty * ''

Hell Below Zero ''Hell Below Zero'' is a 1954 British-American adventure film directed by Mark Robson and starring Alan Ladd, Joan Tetzel, Basil Sydney and Stanley Baker. It was written by Alec Coppel and Max Trell based on the 1949 novel '' The White South'' ...

'' (1954) - Capt. McPhee * ''

Front Page Story ''Front Page Story'' is a 1954 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Allan and Eva Bartok. It was shot in black-and-white at Shepperton Studios with some location shooting in London. The film's sets we ...

'' (1954) - Dan * ''

Hobson's Choice A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that multiple choices are available. The most well known Hobson's choice is "I'll give you a choice: take it or leave ...

'' (1954) - Jim Heeler * ''

Devil Girl from Mars ''Devil Girl from Mars'' is a 1954 British black-and-white science fiction film, produced by the Danziger Brothers, directed by David MacDonald and starring Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Peter Reynolds, and Adrienne Corri. It ...

'' (1954) - Prof. Arnold Hennessey * '' Happy Ever After'' (1954) - Dooley * '' The Young Lovers'' (1954) - Moffatt * ''

Simba Simba is a fictional character and the protagonist of Disney's ''The Lion King (franchise), The Lion King'' franchise. Introduced in the 1994 film ''The Lion King'', Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation's List of Walt Disney Anim ...

'' (1955) - Dr. Hughes * '' Bedevilled'' (1955) - Father Cunningham * '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1955) - Vagrant * ''

John and Julie ''John and Julie'' (1955) is a British comedy film, starring Colin Gibson, Lesley Dudley, Noelle Middleton and Moira Lister, and featuring Peter Sellers and Sid James in early screen roles. Plot The film is set in 1953 in the week leading up t ...

'' (1955) - Mr. Davidson * ''

Timeslip ''Timeslip'' is a British children's science fiction television series made by ATV for the ITV network and broadcast between 1970 and 1971. It was first broadcast on Friday evenings at around 5:10-5:15pm in the ATV region with the other ITV re ...

'' (1955) - Detective Inspector Cleary * ''

A Prize of Gold ''A Prize of Gold'' is a 1955 Technicolor film noir crime film directed by Mark Robson partly filmed in West Berlin. The film stars Richard Widmark as a United States Air Force Air Police Master Sergeant motivated by love and compassion to ...

'' (1955) - Uncle Dan * ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whit ...

'' (1956) - Peter Coffin (voice dubbed by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

) * '' A Night to Remember'' (1958) - Dr. William O'Loughlin * ''

Tread Softly Stranger ''Tread Softly Stranger'' is a 1958 British crime drama directed by Gordon Parry and starring Diana Dors, George Baker and Terence Morgan. The film was shot in black-and-white in film noir style, and its setting in an industrial town in norther ...

'' (1958) - Joe Ryan * ''

The Captain's Table ''The Captain's Table'' is a 1959 Cinema of the United Kingdom, British comedy film directed by Jack Lee (film director), Jack Lee based upon a novel by Richard Gordon (English author), Richard Gordon. It stars John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Pegg ...

'' (1959) - Dalrymple * ''

Upstairs and Downstairs ''Upstairs and Downstairs'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig (actor), Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, Mylène Demongeot, Claudia Cardinale, James Robertson Justice, Joan Sims, Joan Hickson and Sid ...

'' (1959) - Arthur Farringdon * ''Next to No Wife'' (1959 TV movie) - Canon Fergus Brodie * '' Life Is a Circus'' (1960) - Joe Winter * ''

Hell Is a City ''Hell Is a City'' is a 1960 British crime thriller film based on the 1954 novel of the same title by Maurice Procter. Written and directed by Val Guest, it was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and filmed in Manchester. It was p ...

'' (1960) - Furnisher Steele * ''

The Day They Robbed the Bank of England ''The Day They Robbed the Bank of England'' is a 1960 British crime film directed by John Guillermin. It was written by Howard Clewes and Richard Maibaum and based upon the 1959 novel of the same title by John Brophy. Peter O'Toole's role ...

'' (1960) - Cohoun * ''

Lancelot and Guinevere ''Lancelot and Guinevere'' (known as ''Sword of Lancelot'' in the U.S.) is a British 1963 film starring Cornel Wilde, his real-life wife at the time, Jean Wallace, and Brian Aherne. This lesser-known version of the Camelot legend is a work shap ...

'' (1963) - Sir Kaye * ''

The Black Torment ''The Black Torment'' (a.k.a. ''Estate of Insanity'') is a 1964 British gothic horror film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by bro ...

'' (1964) - Sir Giles Fordyke

''The McCooeys''

Tumelty's family-based radio sitcom ''The McCooeys'' was first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in Northern Ireland on 14 May 1949, becoming the region's most listened-to programme over the next six years. Centre Stage Theatre Company, co-founded by his daughter Roma and her husband Colin Carnegie, revived four of the episodes in a stage version, directed by Michael Quinn and performed in the refurbished Grand Opera House Studio Theatre in February 2022.

References

External links

* *
Portaferry - Joseph Tomelty Resource Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomelty, Joseph 1911 births 1995 deaths People from Portaferry Male stage actors from Northern Ireland Male dramatists and playwrights from Northern Ireland 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century male actors from Northern Ireland 20th-century novelists from Northern Ireland Male novelists from Northern Ireland 20th-century British male writers