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Brendan O'Carroll

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Brendan O'Carroll
O'Carroll in 2015
Born (1955-09-17) 17 September 1955 (age 69)
Finglas, Dublin, Ireland
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • director
  • producer
  • writer
Years active1991–present[1]
Known forAgnes Brown in Mrs. Brown's Boys and All Round to Mrs. Brown's
Spouses
  • Doreen Dowdall
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1977; div. 1999)​
    [citation needed]
  • ​
    (m. 2005)​
Children4, including Fiona and Danny
Parents
RelativesEilish O'Carroll (sister)

Brendan O'Carroll (born 17 September 1955) is an Irish actor, comedian, director, producer and writer. He is best known for portraying foul-mouthed matriarch Agnes Brown on stage and in the BBC and RTÉ television sitcom Mrs. Brown's Boys.[2] In 2015, O'Carroll was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Irish television.

Early life

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The youngest of 11 children, O'Carroll was born in Finglas, Dublin on 17 September 1955.[3] His mother, Maureen, was a Labour Party TD and his father, Gerard O'Carroll, was a carpenter. His father died in 1962 when O'Carroll was seven, and Brendan's mother raised their eleven children with little money.[citation needed] He attended Saint Gabriel's National School and left at the age of 12. He had a string of occupations; these included being a waiter and a milkman.[4]

Career

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Early career

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Having become well known as a comedy guest on The Late Late Show, O'Carroll released four stand-up videos, titled How's your Raspberry Ripple, How's your Jolly Roger, How's your Snowballs and How's your Wibbly Wobbly Wonder.[5][6] O'Carroll wrote the screenplay to Sparrow's Trap, a boxing movie.[6] The film, which had Stephen Rea cast in the lead role, ran into financing difficulties midway through the shoot when the distributor withdrew and it was abandoned. Incurring debts of over €1 million, O'Carroll became bankrupt and the film has never been produced.[7][8][9] O'Carroll presented a quiz show, called Hot Milk and Pepper, on RTÉ One, with long-term collaborator Gerry Browne.[7][8]

Mrs. Brown's Boys

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In 1992, O'Carroll performed a short radio play titled Mrs. Brown's Boys and shortly afterwards he wrote four books titled The Mammy, The Granny, The Chisellers and The Scrapper.[4] In 1999, a movie named Agnes Browne, starring Anjelica Huston, was released, based on his book "The Mammy". O'Carroll also co-wrote the screenplay. He then decided to put together his own family theatre company, Mrs. Browne's Boys, and dressed up as a woman to play his part, as the actress he had originally hired didn't show up.[4][3]

From 1999 to 2009, he wrote and performed in five plays. Since 2011, the stage shows have been re-toured across the UK. In 2011, his plays were adapted into a television sitcom (with the name "Browne" shortened to "Brown"). So far, from 2011, 28 episodes have aired, across three series, several Christmas-special episodes and a one-off live episode that aired in 2016 on RTÉ One and BBC One. Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie was released on 27 June 2014, and was a significant success in the UK, staying at number one in the box office for two consecutive weeks. However, the film had negative reviews; one saying it was not just unfunny but "close to anti-funny". O'Carroll's wife, his sister Eilish, his son Danny, and his daughter Fiona all appear or have appeared on episodes of Mrs. Brown's Boys.[10]

The Course

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It was announced in January 2015 that the BBC wanted O'Carroll to do "other stuff", due to the fact that Mrs Brown's Boys had become so successful. He revealed plans to adapt his first ever written play, patser grey into a television sitcom.[citation needed]

Family and personal life

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O'Carroll was married to his first wife from 1977 to 1999. He married Jennifer Gibney in 2005. They live in Davenport, Florida. O'Carroll has three surviving children, including Fiona and Danny. He lost a son also called Brendan, their first child, shortly after birth in 1976.[11] As an adult, O'Carroll was diagnosed with dyslexia, along with his sons Eric and Danny.[12] O'Carroll's paternal grandfather Peter O'Carroll, a father of seven and a prominent republican, was shot dead on 16 October 1920 at his home in Manor Street, Dublin. Two of his sons were Irish Republican Army volunteers. The incident was investigated in the television series Who Do You Think You Are?[13][14] In March 2016, O'Carroll appeared in the BBC2 documentary Brendan O'Carroll – My Family at War, which explored the involvement of three of his uncles—Liam, James and Peadar O'Carroll—in the Easter Rising.[15][16]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Film Character(s)
1996 The Van Weslie
1999 Agnes Browne Seamus
1999 Angela's Ashes Man in pub
2002 Mrs Brown's Boys Agnes Brown
2003 Mrs Brown's Boys: The Last Wedding
2004 Mrs Brown's Boys: Believe it or not
2005 Good Mourning Mrs Brown
2006 Mrs Brown's Boys: Triple Trouble
2007 How Now Mrs. Brown
2008 Mrs Brown's Boys: The Seven Year Itch
2014 Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie Agnes Brown and Mr. Wang
2022 A Madea Homecoming Agnes Brown

Television

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Year Title Role
1996–1998 Brendan O'Carroll's Hot Milk and Pepper Host
2004 Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere Gypsy Joe
2009 The Fattest Man in Britain Fr O'Flaherty
2011–present Mrs. Brown's Boys Agnes Brown
2013 The Security Men Jimmy
2017–2020 All Round to Mrs. Brown's Agnes Brown
2018 For Facts Sake Host
2022 The Walk-In Uncle Ronnie

Stage

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Year Title Role
1999 Mrs Brown's Last Wedding Agnes Brown
2002, 2012, 2014 Mrs Brown Rides Again
2002, 2011–2012, 2017 Good Mourning Mrs Brown
2007, 2013, 2018 For The Love of Mrs Brown
2009, 2015 How Now Mrs Brown Cow
2019 D'Musical

References

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  1. ^ "MRS Brown's Boys star quits show after confessing he was unhappy". Daily Mirror. 10 July 2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  2. ^ McGreevy, Ronan (27 April 2011). "Necessity the mammy of invention as O'Carroll's Mrs Brown is up for Bafta". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  3. ^ a b Profile Archived 18 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Brendan O'Carroll profile". Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  5. ^ Ronan Kerr. "Brendan O'Carroll: The Stand Up Collection 4 DVD Box Set, Great Price, Free Delivery". Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b Young, Richie (3 October 1997). "Movie Hat-Trick for Big-Shot Brendan". Irish Daily Mirror.[dead link]
  7. ^ a b Quigley, Maeve (17 February 2013). "'I Am Mrs Brown's Boy!' SINGER GERRY SAYS HIS MUM INSPIRED PAL'S HIT SHOW". Irish Daily Mirror.[dead link]
  8. ^ a b Taylor, Richie (23 March 1998). "I'LL PAY BACK Pounds 2M DEBT; Comic O'Carroll's Cash Pledge". Irish Daily Mirror.[dead link]
  9. ^ Quigley, Maeve (31 December 2011). "I Wasn't an Actor but 2 Days before a Show the Guy Playing Rory Left. by Monday Night I Was in Front of 1,300 People; BROWN MRS ON HIS STAR TO FAME RISE". Irish Daily Mirror.[dead link]
  10. ^ Profile Archived 11 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine, cineworld.co.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  11. ^ O'Loughlin, Mike (2 September 2023). "Of chips and old blocks". RSVP Live. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Mrs. Brown's Boys' Brendan O'Carroll says the hardest part of life so far was losing his mother and son". Irish Independent. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  13. ^ Smith, Patrick. "Another 'Mushy' moment?", The Daily Telegraph, 29 August 2014
  14. ^ "Brendan O'Carroll". Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Brendan O'Carroll: Comic says 1916 Easter Rising lessons 'not learned'"[permanent dead link], BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2016.</ref O'Carroll published his autobiography, Call Me Mrs Brown, in 2022.
  16. ^ "Mrs Brown's Boys creator Brendan O'Carroll set to release his autobiography". Irish Mirror. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
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