Theatre, Film and TV

Sheridan, Noel (1936–2006), artist, actor, and arts administrator, was born 12 December 1936 in Dublin, one of three children (two daughters and a son) of Cecil (Brinsley) Sheridan, entertainer, and his wife Ann ('Nan') (née Doyle). Cecil Sheridan (1910–80) was born 21 December 1910…

Sheridan, Thomas (1719–88), actor, theatre manager, and orator, was third son of Thomas Sheridan (qv), schoolmaster and essayist, of Dublin; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at home by his father until the age of 13.…

Shields, Arthur (1896–1970), actor, was born 15 February 1896 in North Great George's St., Dublin, one of eight children of Adolphus Shields, journalist, and Fanny Sophia Shields, originally from Germany. His older brother, William, achieved much fame as the actor…

Simpson, Alan Patrick (1920–80), theatre director, was born in Baggot Street, Dublin, son of Walter Simpson, Church of Ireland minister. Sent to Belfast to broaden his outlook, he was educated at Campbell College and spent a brief period in Germany before returning to Dublin in the late…

Smith, Brendan John (1917–89), founder-director of the Dublin Theatre Festival, was born 7 February 1917 in Ilford, Essex, England, son of John Mead, executive in a London co-operative society, and Greta Smith, a professional cellist. It is not known whether his parents were married; he…

Smith, Constance Mary (1928–2003), actor, was born in January or February 1928 in Limerick. Her father, a Dublin native who had served in the British army during the first world war, was working on construction of the Ardnacrusha power station; her mother Mary was from Limerick. On…

Smithson, Harriet Constance (1800–54), actress and wife of Hector Berlioz , was born 18 March 1800 in Ennis, Co. Clare, daughter of William Joseph Smithson, actor and theatrical manager, originally from Gloucestershire, England. Details of her mother are scarce and she is usually…

Smyth, William (1813–78), actor, writer, and painter, was born 12 November 1813 in Dublin, son of Richard Smyth of 16 Dame St., haberdasher, alderman, JP, high sheriff of Dublin, and lord mayor of Dublin (1823–4; locum tenens in…

Southerne, Thomas (1660–1746), dramatist and soldier, was born 12 February 1660 at Oxmantown, Dublin, youngest child among four sons and two daughters of Francis Southerne, founder-member of the brewers' corporation of Dublin, and his wife Margaret. Educated at the free school in…

Stoker, Abraham (‘Bram’) (1847–1912), writer, barrister, and theatre manager, was born 8 November 1847 in Dublin at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, third among seven children of Abraham Stoker, clerk in the British administration at Dublin Castle, and Charlotte Stoker (née Thornley),…

Stoker, Henry Hugh (or Hew) Gordon Dacre (‘Harry’) (1885–1966), naval officer and actor, was born 2 February 1885 in York St., Dublin, second son of William Stoker, surgeon and FRCSI, and Jeannie Stoker (née…

Stoppelaer Michael (c.1710–1777), actor, singer, and painter, was born in Dublin, second son of William Stoppelaer, merchant; nothing is known of his mother or the family's antecedents. His older brother was Charles Stoppelaer (c.1700–72), who also performed on the…

Sullivan, (Thomas) Barry (1821–91), actor, was born 5 July 1821 in Birmingham, England, second among three children of Peter Sullivan, formerly a soldier in the 101st (‘Duke of York's’) Regiment, and his wife, Mary Barry. Both parents were from Cork and the family lived there for…

Swift, Carolyn (1923–2002), writer, broadcaster, journalist, critic, actress, and theatre owner, was born Carol Samuel on 21 September 1923 in London, elder of two children of Capt. Cecil Samuel, businessman, and Enid Samuel (née Van den Bergh), both of Grosvenor Square, London W1.…

Swiney (Swiny, Swinny, MacSwinny), Owen Mac (1680–1754), playwright and theatre manager, was born near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. He appears to have joined the army as a young man but by spring 1703 was in London as associate of Christopher Rich at the Drury Lane theatre, where he…

Taylor, William Desmond (1872–1922), silent film director and celebrity murder victim, was born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner at Straw Hill House, Carlow town, Co. Carlow, on 26 April 1872, second child and oldest son among two daughters and three sons (one of whom died in infancy) of…

Toal, Maureen (1930–2012), actress, was born Mary Toal on 7 September 1930 in a nursing home on the North Circular Road, Dublin, one of five children (two boys and three girls) of Thomas Toal, a clerk in Irish Shell, and his wife Mary (née Bates). The family lived in Kincora Park,…

Tomelty, Joseph (1911–95), actor and playwright, was born 12 March 1911 in Portaferry, Co. Down, son of James Tomelty, house painter and keen traditional musician, and Mary Tomelty (née Drumgoole). Apprenticed to his father's trade from the local school Ballyphilip at the age of 12…

Touhey, Patrick J. (‘Patsy’) (1865–1923), traditional musician and vaudeville entertainer, was born 27 February 1865 in Cahertinny, Bullaun, Loughrea, Co. Galway, son of James Twohill, or O'Toole (1839–75) (all variations of the surname being anglicisations of the Irish ‘Ó Tuathail…

Towb, Harry (1925–2009), actor, was born Harris Towb in Larne, Co. Antrim, on 27 July 1925, the second child of Jack (or Jacob) Towb and his wife Bessie (Amelia) Towb (née Sergai). Bessie Towb had been born to a Jewish family in Belfast, while Jack was born in a shtetl (town),…

Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario (1949–2015), restaurant owner, writer and food critic, was born on 20 August 1949 in Falkirk, Scotland, the only child of Dionisio Tullio, a restaurant owner and his wife Irene (née Fusco). Although Tullio’s parents were Italian, his mother was raised between…

van Gelderen, Gerrit (1926–94), naturalist, wildlife film-maker, broadcaster, and author, was born 26 August 1926 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, eldest child of Johannes Gerardus van Gelderen, a local-authority employee who lived within the municipal park where he worked. Familiar from…

Waddell, Samuel John (‘Rutherford Mayne’) (1878–1967), playwright, actor, and civil servant, was born 15 July 1878 in Tokyo, Japan, the fourth child (and fourth son) among eight sons and two daughters of the Revd Hugh Waddell (1840–1901), a presbyterian missionary born in Glenarm, Co.…

Walker, Alexander Alfred (1930–2003), film critic and cinema historian, was born 22 March 1930 in Portadown, Co. Armagh, only child of Alfred Walker, commercial traveller, and his wife Ethel Linda Harris (née Andrews). The family were presbyterian, though not especially observant…

Warden, Joseph Frederick (1836–98), actor and theatre manager, was born 12 December 1836 in Hull, Yorkshire. His first stage appearance was in the role of Lemuel in John Baldwin Buckstone's ‘The flowers of the forest’ at Scarborough Theatre. Eighteen months later he joined Charles…