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Joseph Tomelty

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Joseph Tomelty
Born(1911-03-05)5 March 1911
Portaferry, County Down, Ireland
Died7 June 1995(1995-06-07) (aged 84)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Occupation(s)Actor, playwright
Years active1947–1964
Spouse
Lena Milligan
​
​
(m. 1942)​
Children2, including Frances Tomelty
FamilyJoe Sumner
(grandson)

Joseph Tomelty (5 March 1911 – 7 June 1995)[1] was a Northern Irish actor, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and theatre manager. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage.[2] starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play Over the Bridge.

Life and career

Born in Portaferry Ireland, (now Northern Ireland) in 1911, he was the son of James Tomelty; a skilled fiddler who was nicknamed "Rollicking".[1] 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).[1] His brother, Peter Tomelty, was a tenor and recording artist. He married Lena Milligan in 1942.[3] They had two daughters together; Frances Tomelty is an actress and the first wife of singer and musician Sting, while Roma Tomelty was also an actress.[2]

A revival of his classic BBC Home Service radio series from the 1950s, "The McCooeys", will be the first professional production to open the newly refurbished Belfast's Grand Opera House's Studio Theatre in February, 2022. Presented by Centre Stage Theatre Company, co-founded by his daughter Roma and her husband Colin Carnegie, it will be directed by Michael Quinn.

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

References

  1. ^ a b c Damian Smyth (12 June 1995). "OBITUARY:Joseph Tomelty". The Independent.
  2. ^ a b Smyth, Damian (November 2008). "Tomelty Country". Celebrating Strangford Lough. p. 1.
  3. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaryjoseph-to melty-1586249.html
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