John D Ruddy
John Ruddy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Letterkenny, Ireland |
| Occupation(s) | School teacher, actor, YouTuber |
John D Ruddy is an Irish actor, artist, teacher and YouTuber.
Personal life[edit]
Ruddy was born in Letterkenny, County Donegal.[1]
Career[edit]
Acting[edit]
Ruddy has been involved in a number of theatre productions in Ireland. His first notable role was in the multi-award-winning production of The 39 Steps directed by Pluincead Ó Fearraigh which toured across Ireland in September 2012.[2]
He went on to play Billy McKeague in The Rising by Joe O'Byrne, a two-man play of a Protestant and a Catholic telling the story of the 1916 Easter Rising. The play premiered in the Powerscourt Theatre, Dublin in June 2012 and toured Ireland in 2013 and 2014.[3]
Ruddy's performance was reviewed in The Irish Times where the reviewer stated that "Ruddy's characterisations – particularly his inner-city Concepta and, at times, his Pádraig Pearse – are so funny that they divert us guiltily from the weight of the lesson."[4] Irish culture magazine Vulgo described Ruddy and his co-star Nick O'Connell as "exciting new talent" and "say that you saw the electric O'Connell and Ruddy here first" in their review of the show.[5]
YouTube[edit]
Ruddy created the webcomic Manny Man 2010.[6] The weekly strip poked fun at pop culture including Star Wars, Pokémon, Doctor Who and Game of Thrones.[citation needed]
He made his first historical animation, Irish History in 6 Minutes, in 2013 which went viral in Ireland.[7][8][9] His subsequent videos covering World War I, World War II each amassed over a million views on YouTube.[10][11]
Ruddy's animations have since been inducted into the Donegal County Museum.[12]
Books[edit]
In addition to his animations, Ruddy is also an illustrator, and provided illustrations for Kieran Kelly's book, Letterkenny: Where the Winding Swilly Flows.[13]
Ruddy also published two books of his own: Manny Man Does: Revolutionary Ireland and Manny Man Does: History of Ireland.[14][15][better source needed]
References[edit]
- ^ "John D Ruddy". Irish Actors Guide. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Award-winning '39 Steps' for All Irelands". Donegal News. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "The story of the 1916 Rising told by both sides (with a little Irish dancing)". Irish Journal. March 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "This loud and proud telling of the 1916 Rising leaves no soldier behind". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Exciting new talent in Joe O'Byrne's "The Rising", choreographed by Breandan De Gallai at Powerscourt Theatre". Vulgo. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Manny Man". Smack Jeeves. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Donegal teacher becomes YouTube star with entertaining history lessons". Irish Post. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ^ "Animated short tells history of Ireland in six minutes". Joe.ie. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "John Ruddy's new Manny Man video gets over 50,000 hits". Donegal News. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ Drohan, Freya (26 August 2015). "Donegal teacher uploads interactive lessons to YouTube - and gets 3 million views". Independent.ie. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ^ "Donegal School Teacher goes Viral with Youtube lessons". Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ^ "Donegal County Museum – Films by John D. Ruddy". Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ^ "Kieran Kelly – Letterkenny: Where the Winding Swilly Flows". Angrianan. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Russian Revolution in 10 minutes". YouTube. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ "Amazon.com: John D. Ruddy". Amazon.