Jump to content

Bryan Murray (actor)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Not yet deceased (talk | contribs) at 07:55, 12 April 2023 (→Famous roles). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bryan Murray
Born (1949-07-13) July 13, 1949 (age 75)
Dublin
NationalityRepublic of Ireland
Occupationactor
Known forFair City, Brookside, The Irish R.M.

Bryan Murray (born 13 July 1949) is an Irish actor. He is known for his extensive television work which includes Fitz in Strumpet City, Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M., Shifty in Bread (for which he won BBC TV Personality of the Year), Harry Cassidy in Perfect Scoundrels, Trevor Jordache in Brookside and Bob Charles in Fair City.

Early life and theatre career

Murray was born in Dublin, Ireland. As a stage actor, he began his career in Dublin at the Abbey Theatre where, as a member of The Abbey Company,[1] he appeared in over 50 productions. In London, he has been a member of The Royal National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and has been in many productions in the West End.[1] He has appeared many times at the Gate Theatre in Dublin,[2] most recently in 2013 in My Cousin Rachel adapted for the stage by Joseph O'Connor.[3] In the 2010 Dublin Fringe Festival, he appeared in the award-winning production of Medea at The Samuel Beckett theatre.[4]

Television

Murray is widely known for his extensive television work which includes Fitz in Strumpet City, Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M., Shifty in Bread (for which he won BBC TV Personality of the Year), Harry Cassidy in Perfect Scoundrels, Trevor Jordache in Brookside and Bob Charles in Fair City. He appeared on the second season of Charity You're a Star where he sang duets with his Fair City co-star Una Crawford O'Brien. The duo were voted off the show after performing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".[5] He played the role of Lynch in the film, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977).

Recently he presented the highly acclaimed and IFTA nominated documentary for TV3 The Tenements, a four-part series charting the rise and fall of the Tenements in Dublin from the 1800s to the mid-1970s. He fronted the BBC1 children's religious affairs programmes Knock Knock and Umbrella for three years. On RTÉ, he had his own prime time TV talk shows Encore and Caught in the Act and presented Saturday Night Live. His nine-part radio series The Sound of Movies was aired on RTÉ Radio 1 in 2008. Most recently he has been a semi regular presenter of Late Date on RTÉ Radio 1. In the US, he presented the 'Irish Spring' commercial on network TV for six years, the award-winning 'Pioneer Press' commercials for three years and hosted the St Patrick's Day Parade for PBS Television. His series The Big House was shown on TV3 in the spring of 2013.

He co-created and co-devised the ITV series Perfect Scoundrels which ran for three years. He has co-written two musicals performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and Irish Theatre Company Dublin; A Happy Go Likeable Man, after Molière, and Thieves Carnival, after Anouilth. Most recently Murray took part in the 'One City One Book' celebration Bread and Roses; Strumpet City Revisited reading extracts from the book with the RIAAM orchestra playing the theme music from the TV series conducted by the composer Proinnsias O'Duinn at Dublin Castle.[6]

Famous roles

Murray is most famous for the following roles:

Although Murray's fame increased in the eighties thanks to his role as Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M. and Shifty Boswell in the popular sitcom Bread, his role in Brookside is perhaps the best remembered, despite the character only appearing in the show for eleven episodes in 1993. His character, the wife beater and child abuser Trevor Jordache, was famously stabbed and killed by his wife, Mandy (Sandra Maitland), she and daughter Beth (Anna Friel) later buried his body under the patio, where it was discovered in 1995.

He plays Bob Charles, once owner of McCoys pub but now the owner of The Hungry Pig restaurant, in the RTÉ soap opera Fair City.[7]

Recently he took part in the 'One City-One Book' celebration Bread and Roses; Strumpet City Revisited in which he read extracts from the book with the RIAM orchestra playing the theme music from the TV series conducted by the composer Proinnsias O'Duinn at Dublin Castle.

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Director Notes
1971 Here Are Ladies John Quested Short film
1977 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Lynch Joseph Strick
1998 The Disturbance at Dinner Narrator Greg Akopyan
Lawrence Kane
2000 Wonderland...It Ain't Dad Lawrence Kane Short film
2005 Boy Eats Girl Mr. Frears Stephen Bradley
2010 Love on the Line Jack Bernadette McCarthy
2011 10 Arenas of Marwood Dr. Goode Michael Audreson
2012 A Christmas Carol Jacob Marley Jason Figgis
2014 Dinner For One Kevin McGee Short film
2017 Torment John Jason Figgis
2018 Vita & Virginia Doctor Chanya Button
2019 The Professor and the Madman Henry Liddell Farhad Safinia

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1978 Betzi Barry O'Meara Television film
1979 ITV Playhouse Nelson 11.02 "I'm a Dreamer Montreal"
1980 Strumpet City Fitz Television miniseries
1980 Premiere Private Semple 4.01 "Rifleman"
1981 Bread or Blood Pope 1.03 "Childhood"
1.04 "Bread"
1.05 "Blood"
1981 Play for Today Terry 12.05 "Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain"
1982 Dead Ernest Saint Patrick 1.02 "Episode Two"
1982 Harry Carpenter Never Said It Was Like This Television film
1982 The Year of the French Ferdy O'Donnell 1.06 "Episode Six"
1983-1985 The Irish R.M. Flurry Knox 18 episodes
1983 Play for Today George McQuiston 13.10 "Gates of Gold"
1985 Oscar George Bernard Shaw 1.01 "Gilded Youth"
1.02 "Trials"
1.03 "De Profundis"
1986 The Return of the Antelope Chimney Sweep 2.01 "Brelca Goes Ballooning"
1988 Ten Great Writers of the Modern World James Joyce 1.01 "James Joyce's 'Ulysses'"
1988 Final Run Michael / Danny 4 episodes
1988-1991 Bread Shifty Boswell 49 episodes
1988 The Franchise Affair Kevin McDermott 1.06 "Episode Six"
1990-1992 Perfect Scoundrels Harry Cassidy 18 episodes
1996 Mrs. Santa Claus Officer Doyle Television film
1997 The Bill Special Officer Paul Wellsted 13.127 "Shades of Grey: Part One"
13.128 "Shades of Grey: Part Two"
1998-1999 Casualty Mr. James Roberts 13.13 "One from the Heart"
13.16 "Making a Difference"
13.20 "White Lies, White Wedding"
1999 Holby City Mr. James Roberts 1.01 "Whose Heart Is It Anyway?"
1.03 "Kill or Cure"
1999-2000 Glenroe Mike O'Shea 17.14 "Venetia Thinks It Over"
17.17 "The Old Triangle"
2002 The Bill Harry Fullerton 13 episodes
2004 Proof Miles Carrick 4 episodes
2004 Silent Witness David Kelman 8.01 "A Time to Heal: Part 1"
2005 The Baby War Connor Television film
2005- Fair City Bob Charles 211 episodes
2007 The Tudors Jean De Bellay 1.07 "Message to the Emperor"
2019 Bridget & Eamon Antiques Expert 4.05 "The Vase"

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Bryan's heart is firmly in new role". Irish Examiner. 12 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Murray's land of shadow". Independent.ie.
  3. ^ "My Cousin Rachel". itmarchive.ie.
  4. ^ "Theatre director who followed her heart". Independent.ie.
  5. ^ "Una and Bryan voted off Charity You're A Star". RTÉ. 3 August 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
  6. ^ "Strumpet City Programme" (PDF). DublinOneCityOneBook.ie. 2013.
  7. ^ Gallagher, Brian (3 October 2005). Inside Fair City. Rooney Media Graphics. ISBN 978-0955090202.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Bryan_Murray_(actor)&oldid=1149442241"