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Daragh O'Malley

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Daragh O'Malley
Born (1954-05-25) 25 May 1954 (age 70)
Dublin, Ireland
CitizenshipIreland
OccupationActor/Producer
Years active1977–present
SpouseGabrielle Leavy (Deceased April 2023)
Parents
AwardsMTA Award - Drama League Award School = Terenure College, Dublin

Daragh Gerard Marion O'Malley (born 25 May 1954) is an Irish actor, director, and producer. O'Malley is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Patrick Harper in the series Sharpe (1993–2009) starring with Sean Bean although O'Malley has appeared in a number of other films, major television shows, and stage productions throughout his career in the UK and in the US.

Career

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O'Malley trained at LAMDA - London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art - and began his acting career with roles in Crossroads (147 episodes) on ITV and then roles in the films The Long Good Friday and Withnail and I. O'Malley went on to star in over 100 UK and US television series, including Tales of the Unexpected, Waking The Dead,"Silent Witness", "Wire In The Blood" and Vera, as well as appearing in TV roles in Longitude, Cleopatra, and The Magnificent Seven. O'Malley played Irish explorer Tom Crean in the eight-part television series The Last Place on Earth and the crooked lawyer Nick Varago in the LucasArts multi million selling interactive game Grim Fandango.

In 2011, O'Malley shifted his focus back to the stage, appearing in productions in both the US and the UK. In recent years O'Malley has appeared in over a dozen stage productions, including a revival of Dancing at Lughnasa, where he played Father Jack, which was nominated for an MTA Best Production Award. He followed this by playing John Rainey in a London revival of Irvine's Mixed Marriage, which received positive reviews and which The Guardians Michael Billington called " the most compelling play in London" . In 2014, O'Malley appeared as Big Daddy in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, for which he was nominated for an MTA Best Actor award.[1][2] UK's The Stage selected O'Malley's performance as one of the Top Five Performances in UK theatre in 2014.

In 1968 O'Malley's father, Donogh, as Minister for Education introduced Free Secondary Education in Ireland which is credited with the subsequent massive upsurge in the Irish economy. O'Malley's mother, Hilda, a doctor, was the inspiration for the much loved poem and song "On Raglan Road" as well as eleven other Patrick Kavanagh poems. In 2019 "On Raglan Road" was voted Ireland's All Time Favourite Song in a National poll.

O'Malley's Aunt Maeve is singer Dido's grandmother.

Awards

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O'Malley's production of The Rocky Horror Show in Dublin won numerous awards, including a Best Production Jacob's Award. The show's playwright, Richard O'Brien, described O'Malley's Irish production as "without doubt, the sexiest version of my show ever produced."

In Los Angeles, O'Malley won a Drama-Logue Best Actor Award for his 1998 performance as Sweeney in Patrick Marber's Dealers Choice at The Mark Taper Forum.

O'Malley also won a BANFF TV Award for a one-off episode of the BBC Series Doctors, a two-handed episode in which he appeared with actor Christopher Timothy.

In both 2019 and in 2022 O'Malley was nominated for Best Actor OFFIE Awards for his performances in London theatre.

Charity work

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O'Malley founded The Sharpe's Children Foundation,[3] a charity designed to fight poverty with education and take orphaned and destitute children off the streets of the Third World and into residential primary education. The SCF was launched at Apsley House, London, home of the Duke of Wellington, in October 2010. Team India, sponsored by The Sharpe's Children Foundation and made up of children who lived in railway carriages at Delhi Railway Station and who played football in the railway yards, won The Street Children's World Cup in Durban, South Africa. The Sharpe's Children Foundation was chosen as World Charity of The Year in 2012 by Intellectual Property Magazine and was integrated with The Consortium for Street Children later that year.

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ Paul Vallely (6 November 2014). "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Royal Exchange Manchester, review: A compelling production". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Royal Exchange, reviewed by Emma Rhys". The Manchester Review. 12 November 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  3. ^ "The Sharpe's Children Foundation". causes.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. ^ Timblick, Simon. "Doctors spoilers: Sid Vere gets stuck with his dad's new girlfriend!". What to Watch. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
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