Donal Donnelly Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Donal Donnelly was an English-born Irish theatre and film actor. He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, but brought up in Dublin, Ireland. Donal Donnelly attended school at Synge Street Christian Brothers School in Dublin where he acted in school plays with Milo O'Shea, Eamonn Andrews, Jack McGowran, Bernard Frawley and Jimmy Fitzsimons, under the direction of famous...  MORE

Donal Donnelly was an English-born Irish theatre and film actor. He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, but brought up in Dublin, Ireland. Donal Donnelly attended school at Synge Street Christian Brothers School in Dublin where he acted in school plays with Milo O'Shea, Eamonn Andrews, Jack McGowran, Bernard Frawley and Jimmy Fitzsimons, under the direction of famous elocution teacher, Ena Burke. Donnelly toured with Andrew McMaster's Irish repertory company before moving to England where he starred with Rita Tushingham in the film The Knack …and How to Get It. His breakthrough role came when he was cast as Gar Private in the world premiere of Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come! directed by Hilton Edwards for the Gate Theatre at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1964. The production subsequently transferred to Broadway where it played for over 300 performances and established Donnelly and Patrick Bedford – who played his alter-ego Gar Public – as formidable new talents to be reckoned with. They were jointly nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play in 1966. Donnelly returned to Broadway a number of times, replacing Albert Finney in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg in 1968, playing Milo Tindle in Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth and appearing as Frederick Treves opposite David Bowie as The Elephant Man. He also renewed his relationship with Brian Friel, appearing in the world premieres of Volunteers at the Abbey Theatre in 1975 and Faith Healer with James Mason in 1979 as well as the Broadway premieres of Dancing at Lughnasa in 1991 and Translations in 1995. LESS