Gabriel Byrne
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| Gabriel Byrne | |
|---|---|
 Byrne holding his Herald Angel award at the 2006 Edinburgh Film Festival |
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| Born | Gabriel James Byrne May 12, 1950 Dublin, Ireland |
| Spouse(s) | Ellen Barkin (1988-1999) |
Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor and Academy Award-nominated film producer. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before joining London’s Royal Court Theatre in 1979. His TV début came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken. His film début came in John Boorman’s 1981 Arthurian epic, Excalibur. Byrne has starred in over thirty-five feature films, such as The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing, Stigmata and The Man in the Iron Mask, as well as producing three pictures, including In the Name of the Father, and writing two.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Byrne, the first of six children, was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of a cooper and a hospital worker.[1] Byrne was raised Catholic[2] and educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. Despite spending five years of his childhood in a seminary training to be a priest, he said in an interview, "I spent five years in the seminary and I suppose it was assumed that you had a vocation. I have realised subsequently that I didn't have one at all. I don't believe in God. But I did believe at the time in this notion that you were being called."[3]. He attended University College Dublin, where he studied archaeology and linguistics, becoming proficient in Irish. He played football in Dublin with the famous Stella Maris Football Club in Drumcondra and has fond memories of his time spent there.
[edit] Career
Byrne worked in archaeology when he left UCD but maintained his love of his language, writing the first drama in Irish, Draíocht, on Ireland's national Irish television station, TG4, when it began broadcasting in 1996.
He discovered his passion for acting later in his life. Before becoming an actor, Byrne worked at everything from an archaeologist to a cook, to a bullfighter to a Spanish schoolteacher. When he finally found acting aged 29, he began his career on stage with the Focus Theatre and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, later joining the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal National Theatre in London.
The actor came to prominence on the final season of the Irish television show The Riordans, subsequently starring in his own spin-off series, Bracken. He made his film début in 1981 as Lord Uther in John Boorman's classic King Arthur epic, Excalibur.
Byrne currently stars as therapist Dr. Paul Weston in the new, critically acclaimed HBO primetime weeknight series In Treatment. He has recently been coined as TV's "latest Dr. McDreamy" by the New York Times[4] for this role.
In his return to theatre in 2008, he appeared as King Arthur in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot with the New York Philharmonic from May 7 to May 10, following the footsteps of veteran actors Richard Burton and Richard Harris.
[edit] Personal life
The actor did not set foot in America until he was 37. In 1988, Byrne married actress Ellen Barkin by whom he has two children, Jack Daniel (born 1989) and Romy Marion (born 1992). The couple separated amicably in 1993 and divorced in 1999. Byrne is a fan of Chelsea FC[5] and resides in Brooklyn, New York.
In November 2004, Byrne was appointed a UNICEF Ireland Ambassador.
At the 5th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival in 2007, the actor was presented with the first of the newly created Volta awards, for lifetime achievement in acting. He also received the Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society, of Trinity College, Dublin on February 20, 2007. In November of that same year, he was awarded an honorary degree by the National University of Ireland, Galway; the president of the University, Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, said that this award is in recognition of Byrne's "outstanding contribution to Irish and international film".[6]
As of 2008, he is dating actress Anna George. In the past, Byrne has been romantically linked with actress Julia Ormond (his co-star in Smilla's Sense of Snow) and model Naomi Campbell.
Byrne mentioned in interviews and his 1995 autobiography, Pictures In My Head that he hates being called brooding. For the past few years, he has been listed by People as one of the "Sexiest Men Alive". Entertainment Weekly has also recently dubbed Byrne as one of the hottest celebrities over the age of 50.[7]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Riordans (TV series) | Pat Barry | |
| 1978 | Bracken (TV series) | Pat Barry | This role won him the Jacobs' Award for Best Actor in a television series in 1979. |
| 1981 | Excalibur | Uther Pendragon | This was Byrne's breakthrough role in the film industry. |
| 1983 | Hanna K. | Joshua Herzog | |
| The Keep | Major Kaempffer | ||
| 1984 | Reflections | William Masters | |
| 1985 | Defence of the Realm | Nicholas 'Nick' Mullen | Byrne was first introduced to an American audience in this film. |
| 1986 | Gothic | Lord Byron | |
| 1987 | Lionheart | The Black Prince | |
| Julia and Julia | Paolo Vinci | ||
| Hello Again | Dr. Kevin Scanlon | ||
| Siesta | Augustine | Byrne met his future wife, Ellen Barkin, on the set of this movie. | |
| The Courier | Val | ||
| A Soldier's Tale | Saul | ||
| 1989 | Dark Obsession | Lord Hugo Bruckton | |
| 1990 | Miller's Crossing | Tom Reagan | This film was chosen by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the 100 greatest films ever made. |
| Shipwrecked | Lt. John Merrick | ||
| 1992 | Into the West | Papa Reilly | Also the associate producer |
| Cool World | Jack Deebs | ||
| 1993 | Point of No Return | Bob | |
| A Dangerous Woman | Mackey | ||
| 1994 | A Simple Twist of Fate | John Newland | |
| Trial By Jury | Daniel Graham | ||
| Little Women | Professor Friedrich Bhaer | ||
| 1995 | The Usual Suspects | Dean Keaton | |
| Buffalo Girls (TV movie) | Teddy Blue | ||
| Dead Man | Charlie Dickinson | ||
| Frankie Starlight | Jack Kelly | ||
| 1996 | Draiocht (TV movie) | Father | Byrne wrote this drama himself. |
| Mad Dog Time | Ben London | ||
| The Last of the High Kings | Jack Griffin | Also the writer and executive producer | |
| Dr. Hagard's Disease | Also the executive producer | ||
| The Lark in the Clear Air | Executive producer, writer and director | ||
| Somebody is Waiting | Roger Ellis | Also the co-producer | |
| 1997 | Smilla's Sense of Snow | The mechanic | |
| The End of Violence | Ray Bering | ||
| Weapons of Mass Distraction (TV movie) | Lionel Powers | ||
| This is the Sea | Rohan | ||
| 1998 | Polish Wedding | Bolek | |
| The Man in the Iron Mask | D'Artagnan | ||
| The Brylcreem Boys | Sean O'Brien | Also the co-producer | |
| Quest for Camelot (animated) | Sir Lionel (voice) | ||
| Enemy of the State | Fake Brill | ||
| 1999 | Stigmata | Father Andrew Kiernan | |
| End of Days | The Man/Satan | He went from playing a priest in Stigmata to Satan in the same year. | |
| 2000 | Madigan Men (TV series) | Benjamin 'Ben' Madigan | Also the co-executive producer |
| 2002 | Virginia's Run | Ford Lofton | |
| Spider | Bill Cleg | ||
| Emmett's Mark | Jack Marlow/Stephen Bracken | ||
| Ghost Ship | Captain Sean Murphy | ||
| 2003 | Shade | Charlie Miller | |
| 2004 | Vanity Fair | The Marquess of Steyne | |
| P.S. | Peter Harrington | ||
| The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Brother Juniper | ||
| 2005 | Assault on Precinct 13 | Captain Marcus Duvall | |
| Wah-Wah | Harry Compton | ||
| 2006 | Played | Eddie | |
| Jindabyne | Stewart Kane | ||
| 2007 | Leningrad | Phillip Parker | |
| Emotional Arithmetic | Christopher Lewis | ||
| 2008 | In Treatment (TV series) | Dr. Paul Weston | |
| 2009 | King of the Pipers (in production) | Michael | |
| The Snow Prince (in production) | Rumoured role |
[edit] Theatre/Musical
| Year | Theatre | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Broadway | A Moon for the Misbegotten | James 'Jim' Tyrone, Jr. | Nominated for a Tony Award (Best Actor in a Play) and Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Actor in a Play).
Winner of the Theatre World Award. |
| 2003 | Off-Broadway | The Exonerated | Kerry Max Cooke | |
| 2005 | Broadway | A Touch of the Poet | Cornelius Melody | Winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. |
| 2008 | Off-Broadway | Camelot | King Arthur | Performance for the New York Philharmonic's annual musical event. Scheduled for May 7th to May 10th. |
[edit] Awards and nominations
| Year | Event | Award/Category | Nominated/Won | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Jacob's Awards | Jacob's Award for Best Actor in a TV Series (Drama) | Won | For Bracken |
| 1987 | Fantasporto | International Fantasy Film Award for Best Actor | Won | For Gothic and Defence of the Realm |
| 1995 | National Board of Review of Motion Pictures | NBR Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble | Won | For The Usual Suspects (with Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, Suzy Amis and Giancarlo Esposito) |
| 1998 | Satellite Awards | Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated | For Weapons of Mass Distraction |
| 1999 | Cinequest Film Festival | Maverick Tribute Award | Won | |
| 2000 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Award for Acting | Won | For A Moon for the Misbegotten |
| Tony Awards | Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play | Nominated | For A Moon for the Misbegotten | |
| Razzie Awards | Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor | Nominated | For End of Days and Stigmata | |
| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Actor (Horror) | Nominated | For Stigmata | |
| 2005 | Irish Film and Television Awards | IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Featured Film | Nominated | For Wah-Wah |
| 2006 | Inside Film Awards | IF Award for Best Actor | Nominated | For Jindabyne |
| Australian Film Institute Awards | AFI Award for Best Lead Actor | Nominated | For Jindabyne | |
| Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play | Won | For A Touch of the Poet | |
| 2008 | Irish Film and Television Awards | IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role in a Feature Film | Nominated | For Jindabyne |
[edit] References
- ^ FilmReference.com - Gabriel Byrne Biography Retrieved on 2007-November 28.
- ^ The Independent - Gabriel Byrne: Not one of the usual suspects Retrieved on 2007-November 28.
- ^ The National Secular Society - Coming out as atheist: Noel Gallagher & Gabriel Byrne
- ^ New York Times Article - 'He Listens. He Cares. He Isn't Real.'
- ^ Chelsea F.C. Official Website (requires registration) Retrieved on 2007-November 28.
- ^ Ireland On-Line - Honorary degree for Irish star Retrieved on 2007-November 28.
- ^ GILFy Pleasures: 33 Hotties Over Age 50 Retrieved on 2007-June 7.
