Brendan O'Carroll

The youngest of 11 children, O'Carroll was born in Finglas, Dublin on 17 September 1955.[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-20512744 Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918142146/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-20512744 |date=18 September 2018 }}, BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2015. 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|date=January 2020}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.obrien.ie/brendan-ocarroll|title=Brendan O'Carroll profile|access-date=14 September 2015|archive-date=8 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908042004/http://www.obrien.ie/brendan-ocarroll|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|author=Ronan Kerr |url=http://www.irishcountrymusic.com/brendanocarroll/brendan_o_carroll_the-stand_up_collection_dvd.htm |title=Brendan O'Carroll: The Stand Up Collection 4 DVD Box Set, Great Price, Free Delivery |access-date=30 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120073650/http://www.irishcountrymusic.com/brendanocarroll/brendan_o_carroll_the-stand_up_collection_dvd.htm |archive-date=20 January 2015 }} O'Carroll wrote the screenplay to Sparrow's Trap, a boxing movie.{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-61055829|date=3 October 1997|access-date=|url-access=|via=|first=Richie|last=Young|work=Irish Daily Mirror|title=Movie Hat-Trick for Big-Shot Brendan}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-276206772|date=31 December 2011|access-date=|url-access= |via=|first=Maeve|last=Quigley|work=Irish Daily Mirror|title=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}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}} O'Carroll presented a quiz show, called Hot Milk and Pepper, on RTÉ One, with long-term collaborator Gerry Browne.{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-319146963|date=17 February 2013|access-date=|url-access= |via=|first=Maeve|last=Quigley|work=Irish Daily Mirror|title='I Am Mrs Brown's Boy!' SINGER GERRY SAYS HIS MUM INSPIRED PAL'S HIT SHOW}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-60688504|date=23 March 1998|access-date=|url-access= |via=|first=Richie|last=Taylor|work=Irish Daily Mirror|title=I'LL PAY BACK Pounds 2M DEBT; Comic O'Carroll's Cash Pledge}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}}

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. 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.

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.[http://www1.cineworld.co.uk/blog/mrs-browns-family Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711134828/http://www1.cineworld.co.uk/blog/mrs-browns-family |date=11 July 2017 }}, cineworld.co.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2015.

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|date=January 2016}}

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.{{cite web |last1=O'Loughlin|first1=Mike|title=Of chips and old blocks |url=https://www.rsvplive.ie/news/celebs/mrs-browns-boys-brendan-ocarroll-30825686 |website=RSVP Live |access-date=8 April 2023 |date=2 September 2023}} As an adult, O'Carroll was diagnosed with dyslexia, along with his sons Eric and Danny.{{cite web |title=Mrs. Brown's Boys' Brendan O'Carroll says the hardest part of life so far was losing his mother and son |url=https://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/of-chips-and-old-blocks-26225281.html |website=Irish Independent |access-date=8 April 2023 |date=2 September 2023}}

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?Smith, Patrick. "Another 'Mushy' moment?", The Daily Telegraph, 29 August 2014{{cite web|url=https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/episode/brendan-ocarroll/|title=Brendan O'Carroll|date=18 June 2020 |publisher=Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine|access-date=2 December 2021}} 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.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-ppeurope-35755187 "Brendan O'Carroll: Comic says 1916 Easter Rising lessons 'not learned'"]{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2016.Call Me Mrs Brown, in 2022.{{cite web |title=Mrs Brown's Boys creator Brendan O'Carroll set to release his autobiography |url=https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/mrs-browns-boys-creator-brendan-27638659 |website=Irish Mirror |access-date=23 November 2022 |date=2 August 2022}}

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Category:1955 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Irish comedians

Category:20th-century Irish male actors

Category:20th-century Irish male writers

Category:20th-century Irish novelists

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Category:21st-century Irish male actors

Category:21st-century Irish male writers

Category:21st-century Irish novelists

Category:Actors with dyslexia

Category:Irish people with disabilities

Category:21st-century Irish autobiographers

Category:Irish male comedians

Category:Irish male film actors

Category:Irish male novelists

Category:Irish male stage actors

Category:Irish male television actors

Category:Irish stand-up comedians

Category:Male actors from Dublin (city)

Category:Mensans

Category:People from Finglas

Category:RTÉ television presenters

Category:Writers with dyslexia

Category:Broadcasters from County Dublin