Eamon Morrissey (actor)

Eamon Morrissey (born 25 January 1943) is an Irish actor, best known for his comic performances on stage and television. He currently plays Cass Cassidy in Fair City.

Eamon Morrissey
Born (1943-01-25) 25 January 1943
Dublin, Ireland
OccupationActor
Years active1964–present

Early life

An only child, Morrissey was born in Dublin and grew up in the suburb of Ranelagh. His parents encouraged his early interest in stage performance and he won several medals for his recitations at the Feis Ceoil.[1] While still in his teens and a pupil at Synge Street CBS, Morrissey worked part-time as a stage manager in various Dublin theatres. He left school before sitting the Leaving Certificate in order to try his hand at acting in London.[2] After spending several years there doing odd jobs, he was chosen for the part of Ned, the emigrant, in the 1964 world première of Brian Friel's Philadelphia, Here I Come!.[3]

Career

Stage

Philadelphia, Here I Come! later became a huge success on Broadway and Morrissey enjoyed a lengthy sojourn in the United States as a member of the cast.[4] In July 1967, another Friel play, Lovers, opened at the Gate Theatre in Dublin with Morrissey in the leading role of Joe.[5]

In 1974, Morrissey adapted the satirical writings of Brian O'Nolan into a successful one-man show entitled The Brother. In his two-hour solo performance, Morrissey portrays a "porter-swilling, nose-picking pub philosopher with ingenious solutions to the world's problems".[2] The Brother continues to be an enduring hit with audiences throughout the world.[6] Morrissey went on to create two more one-man shows, Patrick Gulliver, drawn from the works of Jonathan Swift, and Joycemen, which features various characters from James Joyce's Ulysses.

Television

In 1977, Morrissey won a Jacob's Award for his performances in Frank Hall's long-running satirical TV series, Hall's Pictorial Weekly. Each week he appeared as a variety of grotesque characters, most notably The Minister for Hardship (based on the then-Finance Minister, Richie Ryan).[7] Two decades later, he appeared as Father Derek Beeching in "Speed 3", an episode of Channel 4's sitcom Father Ted.

In 2009, Morrissey returned to prime-time Irish television as Cass Cassidy in the RTÉ One soap opera, Fair City. In 2011, Morrissey was among the nominees for Best Supporting Actor at the annual Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) for his role in Fair City.[8]

Film

Morrissey's most significant movie appearance to date came in 1986 when he took the central role of Arthur in Peter Ormrod's Eat the Peach.

See also

References
  1. "Eamon Morrissey: the Brother and the Dama", The Irish Times. 19 December 1987.
  2. "'A pint of plain' is not his only man", The Irish Times. 18 February 1987.
  3. "EAMON MORRISSEY", The Irish Times. 21 June 1980.
  4. "New York; Words' -eye View", The Irish Times. 22 April 1966.
  5. "AN IRISHMAN'S DIARY", The Irish Times. 15 July 1967.
  6. "Visitdublin.com". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  7. "'Richie Ruin' tells a cautionary tale | Irish Examiner". Archived from the original on 21 January 2019.
  8. "Gleesons make Ifta family affair", The Irish Times. 11 January 2011.
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