Brefni O'Rorke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brefni O'Rorke
Born	William Francis Breffni O'Rorke 26 June 1889 Dollymount, Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland
Died	11 November 1946(1946-11-11) (aged 57) Hendon, Middlesex, England
Other names	Brefni O'Rourke
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1939–1946

Brefni O'Rorke (born June 26, 1889 – died November 11, 1946) was a talented actor from Ireland. He performed both on stage in plays and in many movies.

Who Was Brefni O'Rorke?

His Early Life

Brefni O'Rorke was born as William Francis Breffni O'Rorke in a place called Dollymount, near Clontarf, Dublin, on June 26, 1889. His father, Frederick O'Rorke, was a merchant who sold cork, which is a material used for stoppers and other things. His mother, Jane Caroline O'Rorke, was also an actress. Brefni had an older brother named Frederick.

Becoming an Actor

Brefni started learning how to act from his mother. He made his first professional appearance on stage in 1912 at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. He acted in a play called John Bull's Other Island.

While living in Dublin, he met and married Alice Cole in 1916. Alice was an actress who had a young son. This meant Brefni became the stepfather of Cyril Cusack, who later became a very famous actor himself! Brefni also played the main character in a musical play called Finn Varra Maa in 1917.

Movies and TV Shows

Brefni O'Rorke acted in many films and was also one of the first actors to appear on the new BBC television broadcasts in 1939.

On the Big Screen

Brefni O'Rorke appeared in many movies during his career. Here are some of them:

• The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941) – Sergeant MacFarlane
• This Man Is Dangerous (1941) – Dr Crosbie
• Love on the Dole (1941) – Dole Officer (uncredited)
• Cottage to Let (1941) – Scottish Police Inspector (uncredited)
• Jeannie (1941) – Quarantine Officer
• The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) – Ministry receptionist (uncredited)
• Hatter's Castle (1942) – Foyle
• The Missing Million (1942) – Coleman
• The Next of Kin (1942) – Brigadier Blunt
• The Day Will Dawn (1942) – Political journalist
• They Flew Alone (1942) – Mac
• Unpublished Story (1942) – Denton
• The First of the Few (1942) – Specialist
• Secret Mission (1942) – Father Jouvet
• Much Too Shy (1942) – Mr Somers
• King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942) – Colonel Duncannon
• We'll Meet Again (1943) – Dr Drake
• Tomorrow We Live (1943) – Moreau
• The Flemish Farm (1943) – Minister
• Escape to Danger (1943) – Security Officer
• They Met in the Dark (1943) – Detective Inspector Burrows
• The Lamp Still Burns (1943) – Mr Lorrimer
• The Hundred Pound Window (1944) – Kennedy
• Tawny Pipit (1944) – Uncle Arthur
• It Happened One Sunday (1944) – Engineer
• Don't Take It to Heart (1944) – Lord Chaunduyt
• Men of Rochdale (1944) – Miles Ashworth
• Twilight Hour (1945) – Richard Melville
• They Were Sisters (1945) – Coroner
• Waltz Time (1945) – Emperor
• Perfect Strangers (1945) – Mr Hargrove
• Murder in Reverse? (1945) – Sullivan
• The Rake's Progress (1945) – Bromhead
• The Voice Within (1945) – Sergeant Sullivan
• I See a Dark Stranger (1946) – Michael O'Callaghan
• The Root of All Evil (1947) – Farnish
• Green Fingers (1947) – Coroner
• The Upturned Glass (1947) – Dr Farrell
• Jassy (1947) – Fielding, footman (uncredited) (his last film role)

Early Television Work

National Television started in October 1936, broadcasting for only a couple of hours each day. The broadcasts stopped when World War II began and didn't start again until 1946.

Brefni O'Rorke appeared in several early BBC television shows. These shows were often short, sometimes only 25 minutes long. Back then, they couldn't record shows, so if a program was shown again, it meant it was performed live a second time!

Some of the television dramas he appeared in include:

• The King of Spain's Daughter (February 25, 1939) – He played Peter Kinsella in this play by Irish writer Teresa Deevy.
• The Advantages of Paternity (May 12, 1939) – A comedy where he played General Yagunin.
• Good Morning, Bill! (June 4, 1939) – Another comedy where he played Sir Hugo Drake.

He also appeared in other television programs that were not dramas, such as:

• Death at Newton-Stewart (February 3, 1939) – This was a show that recreated a real-life murder investigation from the 1870s.
• The Parnell Commission (July 18, 1939) – This show recreated a famous investigation from 1888–89, where Brefni O'Rorke played an "Eye Witness."