Bryan Murray (actor) facts for kids

Bryan Murray (born 13 July 1949) is a well-known Irish actor. He has appeared in many popular TV shows and plays. Some of his most famous roles include Fitz in Strumpet City, Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M., Shifty in Bread, and Bob Charles in Fair City. He even won an award for BBC TV Personality of the Year for his role as Shifty.

Early Life and Theatre Work

Bryan Murray was born in Dublin, Ireland. He started his acting journey on stage in Dublin at the famous Abbey Theatre. He was part of The Abbey Company and acted in more than 50 different plays there.

Later, he moved to London and joined other important theatre groups like The Royal National Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company. He also performed in many shows in the West End, which is a famous theatre district in London. He has often returned to the Gate Theatre in Dublin, including a play called My Cousin Rachel in 2013. In 2010, he was in an award-winning play called Medea at The Samuel Beckett theatre.

Television Roles and Presenting

Bryan Murray is very well known for his work on television. He played Fitz in Strumpet City, Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M., and Shifty in Bread. He also played Harry Cassidy in Perfect Scoundrels and Trevor Jordache in Brookside. Since 2005, he has been playing Bob Charles in the Irish soap opera Fair City.

In 2007, Bryan appeared on the TV show Charity You're a Star. On this show, he sang duets with his Fair City co-star Una Crawford O'Brien. They performed the song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" but were voted off the show. He also played a character named Lynch in the 1977 film A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Besides acting, Bryan Murray has also presented many TV and radio shows. He hosted a four-part documentary series for TV3 called The Tenements. This series explored the history of tenement buildings in Dublin from the 1800s to the 1970s. For three years, he presented children's religious shows on BBC1 called Knock Knock and Umbrella. On RTÉ, he had his own talk shows, Encore and Caught in the Act, and presented Saturday Night Live. He also had a nine-part radio series called The Sound of Movies on RTÉ Radio 1 in 2008. He has also been a regular presenter on Late Date on RTÉ Radio 1.

In the United States, Bryan presented commercials for 'Irish Spring' for six years and 'Pioneer Press' for three years. He also hosted the St Patrick's Day Parade for PBS Television. His series The Big House was shown on TV3 in 2013.

Bryan also helped create the ITV series Perfect Scoundrels, which ran for three years. He has co-written two musicals that were performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. More recently, he took part in a special event called 'One City One Book' where he read parts of the book Bread and Roses; Strumpet City Revisited.

Well-Known Characters

Bryan Murray has played many memorable characters throughout his career. Here are some of his most notable roles:

• Trevor Jordache in Brookside
• Mr James Roberts in Casualty and Holby City
• Harry Fullerton in The Bill
• Shifty Boswell in Bread
• Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M.
• Harry Cassidy in Perfect Scoundrels
• Bob Fitzpatrick in Strumpet City
• Officer Doyle in Mrs. Santa Claus
• Bob Charles in Fair City

While Bryan Murray became more widely known in the 1980s for his roles in The Irish R.M. and Bread, his role as Trevor Jordache in Brookside is perhaps his most famous. Even though he was only in eleven episodes, his character was part of a very dramatic storyline. Trevor Jordache was killed by his wife, Mandy, and his body was hidden. This storyline became very well-known when the body was discovered in 1995.

Currently, Bryan plays Bob Charles in the RTÉ soap opera Fair City. Bob used to own McCoys pub and now owns The Hungry Pig restaurant.

Filmography

Film Appearances

Television Appearances

See also

• List of Fair City characters
• List of longest-serving soap opera actors#Ireland