Niall O'Brien (8 February 1946 – 25 February 2009) was an Irish actor and member of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

company, where he appeared in 130 productions. He also appeared in many films and television programmes.

Early life

O'Brien was born to Maureen (née Wright) and Michael O'Brien on 8 February 1946. He was the youngest of five children. He was born in

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...

village,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, and grew up in nearby

Glasthule Glasthule ( ; ) is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is along County Dublin, County Dublin’s south coast, between Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey. Amenities Sandycove and Glasthule are served by a number of businesses and ameni ...

. He was educated at the CBS Westland Row, Dublin, before going on to join the Abbey School of acting.

Career

After completing his Leaving Certificate, O'Brien started a building apprenticeship. Upon being accepted to the Abbey School of acting in the mid-1960s however, he took a year out of his apprenticeship to try a career as an actor and never went back to the construction industry. In his career as an Abbey actor he took part in 130 theatre productions, including 27 world premiers. His first part was in the play ''Galileo'' in 1965. His last Abbey performance was appearing as Tom Mooney in Drama at Inis-''Is Life Worth Living'' (2005). Niall toured internationally with the Abbey in Europe, Russia and much of the US. In 1994 he appeared in a play by Irish playwright

Teresa Deevy Teresa Deevy (21 January 1894 – 19 January 1963) was an Irish dramatist and writer, who was deaf from the age of 19. Best known for her works for theatre, she was also a short story writer, and writer for radio. Early life Teresa Deevy w ...

called "Katie Roche" where he played the part of Frank Lawlor. O'Brien also appeared in numerous television and film appearances throughout his career. These include the parts of Bernard in ''

Ryan's Daughter ''Ryan's Daughter'' is a 1970 British Epic film, epic Romance film, romantic drama film directed by David Lean and starring Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles. The film, set between August 1917 and January 1918, tells the story of a married Irish ...

'' (1971), Kay in ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

'' (1981), Owen McCarthy in ''The Year of the French'' (1982), Agent Rurik in ''Gorky Park'' (1983), Captain Twilley in ''Half Moon St'' (1986), Det. Insp. Isaac Gissing in ''Rawhead Rex'' (1986), Police Superintendent in ''The Playboys'' (1992), Josie McCarthy in ''Broken Harvest'' (1995) and Mr Moss in ''Vanity Fair'' (2004). He also appeared in single episodes of TV series ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'', ''

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

'', ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'', ''

Bachelors Walk Bachelors Walk is a street and quay on the north bank of the Liffey, Dublin, Ireland. It runs between Liffey Street Lower (to the west) and O'Connell Street Lower and O'Connell Bridge (to the east). It was the setting for the eponymous TV serie ...

'' and ''

The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...

''. In 2007 he was directed in the short film Teeth by his son, Ruairí O'Brien. This film went on to win awards at the

Galway Film Fleadh The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Ireland ...

and

Brest European Short Film Festival The Brest European Short Film Festival ( French: Festival européen du film court de Brest) is a film festival dedicated to short films, happening every year in Brest, in the Brittany region in France. It has been organized by the Côte Ouest As ...

Personal life

He married Brigid Sinnott and they had four children, residing from 1984 in Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Death

O'Brien died at home on 25 February 2009, from cancer, after a 20-month-long illness.

Filmography

Playography

* Katie Roche 1994

References

External links

* *Niall O'Brien a
The Abbey Theatre Archives
*Niall O'Brien a
The Teresa Deevy ArchiveTeeth - short film on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Niall 1946 births 2009 deaths Male actors from County Dublin Irish male stage actors Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland