Colm Meaney

Meaney was born in Glasnevin, Dublin, the son of Kathleen and Patrick Meaney, who was a van driver for Johnston, Mooney & O'Brien.Brady, Tara. "Colm Meaney: ‘My missus doesn't like Los Angeles. She's French’." The Irish Times, December 6, 2019. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/colm-meaney-my-missus-doesn-t-like-los-angeles-she-s-french-1.4098226. His brothers are Liam, Padraig, and Sean Meaney.McGowan, Sharon. "Actor Colm Meaney Breaks Down in Tears at Funeral of 'Inspirational' Irish Director." Irish Mirror, July 23, 2018. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish-showbiz/actor-colm-meaney-breaks-down-12967815. He developed a love of acting at the age 14, and after completing his leaving cert matriculated to the Abbey Theatre School. Upon completing his studies, Meaney joined the company of the National Theatre of Ireland.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/i-had-no-time-for-them-crying-into-their-pints-1.964839|newspaper=The Irish Times|title=I had no time for them crying into their pints|date=22 September 2007|access-date=18 February 2018|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219032650/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/i-had-no-time-for-them-crying-into-their-pints-1.964839|archive-date=2018-02-19}}

File:Abbey Theatre exterior.jpg from 1971-1980.]]

In 1971, Meaney joined the company of the National Theatre of Ireland, appearing in 24 productions over the next nine years. Credits from this period include William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, W. B. Yeats' King Oedipus, George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, Dion Boucicault's Arrah-na-Pogue, and Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock. For much of this period, Meaney split his time between Dublin and London, touring the UK with several theatre companies, including the 7:84 theatre group founded by John McGrath.{{cite podcast|date=10 May 2020|title=Colm Meaney|url=https://soundcloud.com/an-irishman-abroad/colm-meaney-episode-356|author=Jarlath Regan|edition=356|work=An Irishman Abroad|publisher=SoundCloud|access-date=21 July 2020}} Meaney made his Off-West End debut in 1975, appearing in McGrath's plays Fish in the Sea at the Half Moon Theatre"Fish in the Sea (1975)." Stages of Half Moon. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.stagesofhalfmoon.org.uk/productions/soft-or-a-girl/. and Yobbo Nowt at the Shaw Theatre. The following year he appeared in a stage adaptation of Lin Piao's History of the Tenth Struggle at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Meaney made his American stage debut in 1982 at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, where he would remain a summer company member until 1985. Credits from this period include William Shakespeare's Henry V, J. M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, C. P. Taylor's And a Nightingale Sang, and the American premiere of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.Christon, Lawrence. "STAGE REVIEWS : REGIONAL THEATER HAS A NEW LOOK." Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1985. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-08-ca-3569-story.html. The play is an 8½ hour-long stage adaptation of the Charles Dickens’ novel of the same name, performed in two parts. The production was a critical and commercial success, later transferring to Merle Reskin Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Meaney made his Off-Broadway debut in 1984, appearing as Kevin in Hugh Leonard's The Poker Sessions at Theater Off Park.Gussow, Mel. "Stage: Hugh Leonard's 'Poker Session' Revived." The New York Times, October 21, 1984. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/21/theater/stage-hugh-leonard-s-poker-session-revived.html. In 1986 he relocated from New York City to Los Angeles. That same year he starred in Sławomir Mrożek's Alpha,Sullivan, Dan. "STAGE REVIEW : ‘ALPHA’: AN IRONY WITH WRINKLES." Los Angeles Times, September 26, 1986. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-26-ca-9137-story.html. Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party,Christon, Lawrence. "Another 'Birthday' for Director Mandell." Los Angeles Times, February 16, 1986. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-16-ca-8498-story.html. and Peter Sheridan's Diary of a Hunger Strike,Koehler, Robert. "Playwright of Irish Greek Tragedy." Los Angeles Times, March 29, 1986. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-29-ca-1465-story.html. all at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Meaney's performance in the later earned him a Drama-Logue Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play. In 1987, Meaney appeared as Mick Ross in the American premiere of Hugh Whitemore's Breaking the Code at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.Richards, David. "Code Unsolved Enigma." The Washington Post, October 5, 1987. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/05/code-unsolved-enigma/53f97080-6bfc-4abd-be68-ed5b2ffff3b5/. Later that same year the production transferred to the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway. From 1992 to 1993 Meaney appeared in a multi-city tour of Tom Stoppard's Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, directed by his Star Trek co-star Patrick Stewart. Tour venues included Orange County Symphony in Garden Grove, CA; The Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, and The Fox Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1999 Meaney starred in Peter Parnell's stage adaptation of John Irving's The Cider House Rules at the Atlantic Theater Company. Meaney won an Obie Award for his performance.

Meaney made his West End debut as Phil Hogan in the 2006 revival of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten at The Old Vic. Directed by Howard Davies, the cast also featured Kevin Spacey and Eve Best. For his performance, Meaney was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. The following year the production transferred to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway. Meaney would later return to Broadway in the 2018 revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Directed by George C. Wolfe, the cast featured Denzel Washington, Bill Irwin, David Morse, Tammy Blanchard, and Austin Butler. In 2023, after more than a 40-year absence, Meaney returned to the Irish stage in Landmark Productions revival of the Enda Walsh play Bedbound at the Galway International Arts Festival. Starring opposite his daughter Brenda Meaney, the production later transferred to an additional engagement at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin.Hayes, Katy. "Bedbound Review: Colm Meaney and Daughter Brenda Are Inspired Casting in Tale of Celtic Tiger Hubris." Irish Independent, July 19, 2023.https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/theatre-arts/bedbound-review-colm-meaney-and-daughter-brenda-are-inspired-casting-in-tale-of-celtic-tiger-hubris/a805730622.html

File:Alaimo, Shimerman and Meany.jpg co-stars Marc Alaimo (left) and Armin Shimerman (middle)]]

Meaney's first television appearance was in Z-Cars on BBC One, in 1978. He guest-starred on shows such as Remington Steele and Moonlighting before embarking on a successful film career; he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for his role in The Snapper.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/03/colm-meaney-the-journey-martin-mcguinness-interview |title=Colm Meaney on playing Martin McGuinness: 'He was born into this' |last=Addley |first=Esther |date=3 May 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226174522/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/03/colm-meaney-the-journey-martin-mcguinness-interview|archive-date=26 February 2020|access-date=26 February 2020}}

Meaney first appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation in its 1987 pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint", as an unnamed helm officer. His character became a frequently recurring one, and was given the name of Miles O'Brien as he became more prominent in the crew as Transporter Chief. In 1993, Meaney left The Next Generation for a main role in its spin-off Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and remained on that show until its final episode, in 1999. With 225 total appearances on Star Trek, he is second to Michael Dorn with the most appearances on the franchise.{{cite web|last1=Seibold |first1=Witney|title=Which Star Trek Actor Appeared In The Most Episodes?|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/992646/which-star-trek-actor-appeared-in-the-most-episodes/ |website=Slashfilm|date=2 September 2022 |access-date=10 September 2024}}

Meaney played Colum O'Hara in the 1994 miniseries Scarlett, the sequel to Gone With the Wind. He has played a minor recurring role as Cowen,{{Cite web |date=25 November 2019 |title=10 Shows With The Best Cameos From Star Trek Actors |url=https://screenrant.com/cameos-star-trek-actors/ |access-date=21 July 2020 |website=Screen Rant}} leader of the Genii on the series Stargate Atlantis,{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/stargate-atlantis/191790|title=Stargate Atlantis on Sci Fi|publisher=TV Guide|access-date=9 December 2009}} guest-starred on Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and appeared as Bob O'Donnell on the ABC show Men in Trees. Meaney appeared in the film Die Hard 2, playing the pilot of the plane Windsor 114 that was later crashed by Colonel Stuart.{{cite web |title=Die Hard 2 (1990) - Full Cast & Crew |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099423/fullcredits |website=IMDB |access-date=10 September 2024}}

He was the only actor to appear in all three film adaptations of Roddy Doyle's The Barrytown Trilogy, as the father of the Rabbitte family. His stage appearances include the Old Vic production of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten. Meaney starred in the British comedy film Three and Out (released in the UK on 25 April 2008). In July of the same year An Post (the Irish Post Office[http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/History+and+Heritage/History/ An Post—the Irish Post Office] An Post (retrieved 28 May 2018)) issued a postage stamp showing Meaney as Joe Mullen in the film Kings.{{cite journal|last=Warren|first=Brian|title=That Was the Year That Was–2008 (part 1)|journal=The Revealer|volume=58|issue=4|page=63|publisher=Éire Philatelic Association|location=Seminole, FL|date=Spring 2009|issn=0484-6125}}

In 2009, Meaney co-starred with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx in Law Abiding Citizen, playing Detective Dunnigan. In March 2009, Meaney voiced an Irish bartender on the St. Patrick's Day episode of The Simpsons, "In the Name of the Grandfather". In the same month the film The Damned United was released, a mostly fictional retelling of the 44-day period in which Brian Clough was manager of Leeds United F.C. Meaney played former Leeds manager Don Revie. He co-starred in Soldiers of Fortune. In 2013, Meaney co-starred in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. In 2014, he appeared as The Horse in the BBC's three-part crime story The Driver. For five seasons he portrayed railroad magnate Thomas C. Durant on AMC's drama series Hell on Wheels.{{cite web|title=Interview: Colm Meaney talks about Hell on Wheels|url=https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/08/interview-colm-meaney-talks-about-hell-on-wheels/|website=Flickering Myth|access-date=7 May 2017|date=16 August 2015}}

From 1977 to 1994, Meaney was married to fellow actor Bairbre Dowling, with whom he frequently appeared opposite on stage and screen.{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24896582.html|title='I had no time for them crying into their pints'|date=22 September 2007|work=The Irish Times |via=HighBeam Research|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111044545/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24896582.html|archive-date=11 November 2013}}{{|url=https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22265817/| Air date=22 Jun 2023| Retrieval date=22 November 2023}} Together they had one daughter, actress Brenda Meaney, born in 1984.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/colm-meaney-tears-mother-funeral-14942993|title=Actor Colm Meaney pays heartfelt tribute to late mother at funeral in Dublin|last=McGowan|first=Sharon|date=23 July 2018|website=dublinlive|access-date=29 March 2020}}

Meaney married French costume designer Ines Glorian in March of 2007. Their daughter Ada was born in 2005. The family lives in the Majorcan town of Sóller, with homes in Los Angeles, California, and Dublin, Ireland.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/meaney-still-cursing-after-all-these-years-26782816.html|title=Meaney: still cursing after all these years|work=Sunday Independent|date=16 October 2011}}

Meaney is a supporter of Sinn Féin.

{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Colm Meaney}}

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Category:1953 births

Category:People from Glasnevin

Category:People from Ballygall

Category:20th-century Irish male actors

Category:21st-century Irish male actors

Category:Irish expatriates in Spain

Category:Irish expatriate male actors in the United States

Category:Irish male film actors

Category:Irish male stage actors

Category:Irish male television actors

Category:Abbey Theatre

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at O'Connell School

Category:Male actors from County Dublin

Category:People from Finglas