Tony Doyle (actor)

Tony Doyle (16 January 1942 – 28 January 2000) was a well-known Irish television and film actor. He became widely known in Ireland as a then-radical priest in the popular Irish rural drama The Riordans, which began in 1965. He worked consistently in series, television films, and feature films throughout his life. He died unexpectedly in 2000, at the time playing in another well-known Irish rural drama, Ballykissangel.

Tony Doyle
Born(1942-01-16)16 January 1942
Ballyfarnan, County Roscommon, Ireland
Died28 January 2000(2000-01-28) (aged 58)[1]
St Thomas's Hospital, in Lambeth, London, England, UK
OccupationActor
Spouse(s)Sally Doyle
Children6

Acting career

He first came to prominence playing a liberal Catholic priest - Father Sheehy - in RTÉ's iconic rural drama The Riordans.[2] He appeared in such popular shows as Coronation Street, Between the Lines, 1990, Children of the North and Ballykissangel, and won an Irish Film and Television Academy Award for best leading performance for his role in the 1998 miniseries Amongst Women. Tony Doyle also appeared in the first Minder episode, "Gunfight at the OK Laundrette", playing a drunken Irishman.

His most famous film role saw Tony as the head of the SAS, Colonel Hadley, in the 1982 British film Who Dares Wins. His other film roles included appearances in Ulysses (1967), Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970), Loophole (1981), Eat the Peach (1986), Secret Friends (1991), Damage (1992), Circle of Friends (1995), and as Tom French in I Went Down (1997).

He was married to Sally and was the father of six children including the actress Susannah Doyle.

Death and legacy

He died at St Thomas's Hospital in Lambeth, London, England.[3]

Brian Quigley, Doyle's Ballykissangel character, was written out of the show in the first episode of the final series where Quigley fakes his own suicide, supposedly drowning himself and fleeing to Brazil.

The Tony Doyle Bursary for New Writing was launched by the BBC following his death. Judges include his friend and Ballykissangel co-star Lorcan Cranitch.[4] Cranitch subsequently starred in the BBC detective series McCready and Daughter, which had been written with Doyle in mind.[5]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1967UlyssesLt. Gardner
1970Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the BronxMike
1981LoopholeNolan
1982Who Dares WinsColonel Hadley
1986Eat the PeachSean Murtagh
1987Devil's ParadiseQuinn
1991Secret FriendsMartin
1991Adventures in Dinosaur CityRex
1992DamagePrime Minister
1995Circle of FriendsDr. Foley
1997I Went DownTom French
1999The BoxerUncredited
1999A Love DividedFather Stafford
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References
  1. "Tony Doyle". IMDb.
  2. "Actor Tony Doyle dies aged 58". RTÉ. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  3. "New & Noteworthy: BallyK star Tony Doyle dead at 58", Irish Echo, 16 February 2000. Accessed 7 November 2014
  4. "Tony Doyle Bursary Submissions Sought By BBC" 4rfv.co.uk 13 Dec 2006 Archived 2014-11-07 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 7 November 2014
  5. Jacques Peretti, "One step beyond", The Guardian, 12 June 2000. Accessed 7 November 2014
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