Tony O'Callaghan (born 16 June 1956) is a British television actor from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, known for his role of Sergeant Matt Boyden in the ITV police procedural drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' from 1991 to 2003. After leaving ''The Bill'', O'Callaghan played Father Thaddeus in ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster RTE, it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several awards and is both the most po ...

'' and Ollie Walters in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''.

Career

O'Callaghan previously appeared as a villain in the fifth series of ''The Bill'' in 1989. O'Callaghan played the "flawed", yet popular Sergeant Matthew Boyden in ''The Bill'' until 2003. His character's death led to big ratings for the show. In addition to his role on ''The Bill'', he has also appeared in the television series '' The Magnificent Evans'', ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'', ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'', '' Shameless'', '' Three Up, Two Down'', ''

The Upper Hand ''The Upper Hand'' is a British television sitcom with dramatic elements broadcast by ITV from 1 May 1990 to 14 October 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom ''Who's the Boss?'' As in the former series, affluent single wo ...

'' and '' The Coven'' (in 2014). In 2007, O'Callaghan appeared in the UK "Let It Out"

Kleenex Kleenex is a brand name primarily known for their line of facial tissues. Often used informally as a genericized trademark for facial tissue, ''Kleenex'' is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark applied to products made in 78 countries. The ...

television advertisement. He also appeared in the Irish television

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

, where he played the character Father Thaddeus, a British

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

living in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, and who is having a relationship with a female character. In 2013, he joined the cast of ''

'', playing Ollie Walters. O'Callaghan said of his casting: "I am very excited to be joining a show with as much prestige as ''EastEnders'' and I'm looking forward to portraying the nice side and humour of Ollie". He played the role on a

recurring Recurring means occurring repeatedly and can refer to several different things: Mathematics and finance *Recurring expense, an ongoing (continual) expenditure *Repeating decimal, or recurring decimal, a real number in the decimal numeral syste ...

basis until 2016. On 10 June 2018, it was announced that O'Callaghan would make a "brief return" to ''EastEnders''. O'Callaghan has also appeared in several plays.

Personal life

O'Callaghan is the son of Irish immigrants. He married his partner Siobhan Gallagher in

Gougane Barra Gougane Barra () is a scenic valley and heritage site in the Shehy Mountains of County Cork, Ireland. It is near Ballingeary in the Muskerry ''Gaeltacht''. Gougane Barra is at the source of the River Lee and includes a lake with an oratory bu ...

, West Cork in May 1999. The couple have one child, a daughter, born in 2002.

References

External links

* Living people 1956 births British male soap opera actors English people of Irish descent Male actors from London {{UK-screen-actor-stub