Lorcan Cranitch (born 28 August 1959) is an Irish actor. 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 ...

, Lorcan Cranitch became involved in drama while a student. In 1980 he moved to London, where he trained at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

Career

His first major role on British television was as Tim Healy in the 1991

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

drama series '' Parnell and the Englishwoman''. It was as the troubled DS Jimmy Beck in ''

Cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

'' (1993-1995) that he became a familiar face to viewers. Following ''Cracker'' he returned to the BBC in a part specially written for him, as Sean Dillon in '' Ballykissangel''. In 2001 he starred in the short-lived drama series ''

McCready and Daughter ''McCready and Daughter'' was a short-lived British television crime drama, broadcast on BBC One, from 15 June 2000 until 20 July 2001. Just six episodes of the series were produced. The series starred Lorcan Cranitch and Patsy Palmer as Michae ...

'', taking on a role originally intended for his former ''Ballykissangel'' co-star, Tony Doyle, who died shortly before the series was due to be filmed. He appeared in several other British television dramas, including ''Deacon Brodie'' (with Billy Connolly), ''Shackleton'' (as Frank Wild) with Kenneth Branagh, ''Omagh'', ''Hornblower'' (with Ioan Gruffudd), ''The Street'', '' Waking the Dead'', '' Spooks'', ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...

'' and '' New Tricks''. In 2005 he took a villainous role in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

production of ''

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

'', as the underworld baron

Erastes Fulmen This is a list of characters from the HBO series ''Rome''. The historical figures upon which certain characters are based are noted where appropriate. Main Recurring Guest * (historically, '' Antonia the Elder'' or '' Antonia Minor''), ...

. In the 2009 BBC drama ''Best: His Mother's Son'', he played Dickie Best, the father of footballer

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

. He also appeared in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' playing DCI Frank Keane. Lorcan briefly appeared as DI Littlejohn in the Sky Atlantic series ''Fortitude''. On film he has appeared in '' Dancing at Lughnasa'' with Meryl Streep, ''The Playboys'' and ''Titanic Town''. He played Melvin in " New Tricks" "Communal Living" (S5:E7), 2008. In 2011 he appeared as Liam Cullen in “The Gift of Promise”, (S5:E4) of '' Lewis''. He appeared in the BBC series ''Death in Paradise'' (S5:E7), 2016. In 2017 he played Assistant Chief Constable Nicholls in the first part of the final series of the BBC drama ''

Inspector George Gently ''Inspector George Gently'' (also known as ''George Gently'' for the pilot and first series) is a 2008 British television crime drama series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector G ...

'', (S8.E1) He has combined this with stage work with The Royal National Theatre,

The Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

Donmar West End The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...

, The Abbey and

The Gate Theatre ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

in Dublin. In February 2021, Cranitch took a lead role as Detective Chief Superintendent Jackie Twomey in the

crime drama series '' Bloodlands''.

Personal life

He was married to Susan Jackson, a journalist and newsreader with

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

. They separated in 2016. The couple adopted an Ethiopian child in 2010."Lorcan's biggest role", independent.ie, 8 May 2011
Accessed 7 Nov 2014 His sister, Ellen Cranitch, is a regular presenter on Lyric FM, RTÊ's classical music station.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cranitch, Lorcan 1959 births Living people Irish male television actors Male actors from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art