Stephen Rea
| Stephen Rea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
31 October 1946 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Spouse(s) | Dolours Price (1983–2000) |
Stephen Rea (/ˈreɪ/ ray; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish[1] film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high-profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto. Rea was nominated for an Academy Award for his lead performance as Fergus in the 1992 film The Crying Game. He has during later years had important roles in the Hugo Blick TV series The Shadow Line and The Honourable Woman.
Early life
Rea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of a bus driver.[2] He attended Belfast High School and the Queen's University of Belfast, taking a degree in English.
Rea trained at the Abbey Theatre School in Dublin. In the late 1970s, he acted in the Focus Company in Dublin with Gabriel Byrne and Colm Meaney.
Career
After appearing on the stage and in television and film for many years in Ireland and Great Britain, Rea came to international attention when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film The Crying Game. He is a frequent collaborator with Irish film-maker Neil Jordan. Rea has long been associated with some of the most important writers in Ireland. His association with playwright Stewart Parker, for example, began when they were students together at the Queen's University of Belfast.
Rea helped establish the Field Day Theatre Company in 1980 with Tom Paulin, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney and Seamus Deane. In recognition for his contribution to theatre and performing arts, Rea was given honorary degrees from both the Queen's University of Belfast[3] and the University of Ulster[4] in 2004.
Rea's friendship with American playwright and actor Sam Shepard dates back to the early 1970s, and he starred in Shepard's directorial debut of his play Geography of a Horse Dreamer at the Royal Court Theatre in 1974. In 2007, Rea began a successful and acclaimed relationship with both the Abbey Theatre and Sam Shepard, appearing in Kicking a Dead Horse (2007) and Ages of the Moon (2009), both penned by Shepard and also both transferred to New York.[5] Rea returned to the Abbey in 2009 to appear in the world premiere of Sebastian Barry's Tales of Ballycumber.[6]
Rea was hired to speak the words of Gerry Adams when Sinn Féin was under a 1988–94 broadcasting ban.[7]
In 2011, Rea featured in the BBC crime drama The Shadow Line, playing antagonist Gatehouse.
In April 2012, Rea read James Joyce's short story "The Dead" on RTÉ Radio 1.[8]
He also narrated for the BBC Radio 4 production of Ulysses for Bloomsday, 16 June 2012.
Rea starred in Enda Walsh's 2014 play Ballyturk and portrayed Jordan in Out of the Dark,[9] in which he co-stars Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman and Alejandro Furth.[10][11]
Personal life
Rea was married for 17 years to Dolours Price, a former Provisional Irish Republican Army bomber and hunger striker who later became a critic of Sinn Féin. (Another news source suggests a marriage of 20 years, from 1983 to 2003.)[12] They had been divorced when she died on Wednesday, January 23, 2013.[13] They had two sons.[14]
Rea is an Ambassador for UNICEF Ireland.[15]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Cry of the Banshee | Villager | |
| 1975 | I Didn't Know You Cared | Carter Brandon | TV, Series 1 & 2 |
| 1977 | Professional Foul | Pavel Hollar | BBC Play (TV) |
| 1978 | The Professionals | Pellin | Episode: "In the public interest" |
| 1978 | On a Paving Stone Mounted | ||
| 1982 | Angel | Danny | |
| 1983 | Loose Connections | Harry | |
| 1984 | The Company of Wolves | Young Groom | |
| Minder | Roddy | Series 4, episode 10 "Windows" | |
| 1985 | The Doctor and the Devils | Timothy Broom | |
| 1990 | Not with a Bang | Colin Garrity | TV series |
| 1991 | Life Is Sweet | Patsy | |
| 1992 | The Crying Game | Fergus | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor |
| 1993 | Hedda Gabler | Ejlert Lovborg | TV |
| Bad Behaviour | Gerry McAllister | ||
| 1994 | Princess Caraboo | Gutch | |
| Angie | Noel Riordan | ||
| Interview with the Vampire | Santiago | ||
| Prêt-à-Porter | Milo O'Brannigan | National Board of Review Award for Best Cast | |
| 1995 | Citizen X | Lt. Viktor Burakov | (TV) |
| Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea | Nikos | ||
| All Men are Mortal | Fosca | ||
| 1996 | Trojan Eddie | Trojan Eddie | |
| Michael Collins | Ned Broy | ||
| Crime of the Century | Bruno Richard Hauptmann | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film | |
| The Last of the High Kings | Cab Driver | ||
| 1997 | Double Tap | Cypher | |
| Fever Pitch | Ray, the Governor | ||
| The Butcher Boy | Da Brady | ||
| Hacks | Brian | ||
| The Break | Sean Dowd | ||
| 1998 | Still Crazy | Tony Costello | |
| This Is My Father | Father Quinn | ||
| 1999 | Guinevere | Connie Fitzpatrick | |
| The End of the Affair | Henry Miles | ||
| The Life Before This | Brian | ||
| I Could Ready the Sky | PJ Doran | ||
| In Dreams | Doctor Silverman | ||
| 2000 | The King's Wake | King Connor Mac Neasa | (voice) |
| 2001 | The Musketeer | Cardinal Richelieu | |
| Armadillo | Hogg | TV film | |
| Snow In August | Rabbi Judah Hirsch | ||
| On the Edge | Dr. Figure | ||
| 2002 | FeardotCom | Alistair Pratt, 'The Doctor' | |
| Copenhagen | Niels Bohr | BBC-PBS (TV) | |
| Evelyn | Michael Beattie | ||
| 2003 | The i Inside | Doctor Newman | |
| Bloom | Leopold Bloom | ||
| 2004 | Fluent Dysphasia | Murph | |
| Control | Dr. Arlo Penner | ||
| Proud | Barney Garvey | ||
| The Confessor | McCaran | alternate title The Good Shepherd | |
| The Halo Effect | Fatso | Nominated — Irish Film and Television Awards — Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Film | |
| 2005 | Breakfast on Pluto | Bertie | Nominated — Irish Film and Television Awards - Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Film |
| Tara Road | Colm | ||
| River Queen | Francis | ||
| V for Vendetta | Inspector Finch | ||
| 2006 | Sisters | Dr. Philip Lacan | |
| Sixty Six | Dr. Barrie | ||
| 2007 | Celebration | Waiter | TV film |
| Until Death | Gabriel Callaghan | ||
| The Reaping | Father Costigan | ||
| Stuck | Thomas Bardo | ||
| 2008 | The Devil's Mercy | Tyler | |
| Heidi 4 Paws | Doctor | (voice) | |
| Kisses | Down Under Dylan | uncredited | |
| 2009 | Nothing Personal | Martin | |
| Father & Son | (TV) | ||
| Ondine | village priest | ||
| 2010 | The Heavy | Anawalt | |
| Single-Handed | Sean Doyle | TV series | |
| 2011 | Roadkill | policeman | |
| Blackthorn | Mackinley | ||
| The Shadow Line | "Controller" James Gatehouse | TV series, Nominated - BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor, April 2012 | |
| 2012 | Underworld: Awakening | Dr. Jacob Lane | |
| Werewolf: The Beast Among Us | Doc | ||
| 2013 | Utopia | Conran Letts | TV series |
| Asylum | McGahey | ||
| 2014 | The Honourable Woman | Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle | TV series British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film |
| The Curse of Styria aka Styria | Dr. Hill | released on DVD as Angels of Darkness[16] | |
| 2015-16 | Dickensian | Inspector Bucket | BBC series |
| 2016 | War & Peace | Prince Vassily Kuragin | BBC series |
References
- ↑ Interview with Stephen Rea, New York Post (20 July 2008)
- ↑ "Stephen Rea Biography (1949?-)". Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
- ↑ Queen's University Belfast | 06-2004 Press Releases. Qub.ac.uk. Retrieved on 2011-06-11.
- ↑ University Of Ulster News Release – Honour for Stephen Rea. News.ulster.ac.uk (2004-12-15). Retrieved on 2011-06-11.
- ↑ Abbey Theatre – Amharclann na Mainistreach. Abbeytheatre.ie. Retrieved on 2011-06-11.
- ↑ Abbey Theatre – Amharclann na Mainistreach. Abbeytheatre.ie. Retrieved on 2011-06-11.
- ↑ Wolf, Matt (17 September 1994). "Actors lose jobs as ban on IRA voices is lifted". Austin American-Statesman. p. A3.
- ↑ "Rea reads The Dead on RTÉ Radio". RTÉ Ten (Raidió Teilifís Éireann). 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
- ↑ "Out of the Dark". BD (Bloody Disgusting). 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
- ↑ Out of the Dark stars Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman, and Stephen Rea.
- ↑ Out of the Dark
- ↑ Foy, Ken and Cormac Murphy (24 January 2013). "Dolours Price, former IRA terrorist and ex-wife of actor Stephen Rea, dies of suspected overdose". Irish Independent. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ↑ McDonald, Henry (28 January 2013). "Stephen Rea carries Dolours Price's Coffin at Funeral in Belfast: Former IRA Hunger Striker is Buried after Mass Attended by Hollywood Actor Ex-Husband". The Guardian (London: Guardian News and Media). Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ↑ "Ex-IRA woman Dolours Price is found dead in Dublin". BBC. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ↑ "UNICEF Ireland Ambassadors & High Profile Supporters". UNICEF. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ Also Known As IMDB
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephen Rea. |
- Stephen Rea at the Internet Movie Database
- Stephen Rea at the Internet Broadway Database
- Stephen Rea at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
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