Joan O'Hara
Joan O'Hara | |
|---|---|
Sligo town, County Sligo, Ireland | |
| Died | 23 July 2007 (aged 76) County Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | Francis J. Barry |
| Children | 4, including Sebastian Barry |
| Relatives | Mary O'Hara (sister) |
Joan O'Hara (10 October 1930 – 23 July 2007)
Career
O'Hara was a member of the Abbey Players and performed in many plays in the
Home is the Hero and just before her death, How About You. In this her final film, she starred with Vanessa Redgrave and her friend Brenda Fricker
.
More recently, O'Hara was best known for appearing in the popular Irish television
Eunice Dunstan until her own (O'Hara's) death in 2007. Thus she was described as both one of Ireland's most popular actresses and as one of the finest actors of her generation on her death. She admired in particular Samuel Beckett, Federico García Lorca and Ingmar Bergman. While she took a no-nonsense approach to her craft, famously giving the advice that when in doubt, one should relate to the fireplace, she was educated at the Abbey School of Acting and had a deep appreciation and knowledge of theoretical approaches to acting and was an admirer of the European and American avant-garde. As actor Alan Stanford said after her death, "She had the most amazing energy. She was in the truest sense one of the last of the greats".[2]
Personal life
O'Hara was born and raised in Finisklin,
convent school as fellow actress and friend, Pauline Flanagan
.
O'Hara lived most of her life in Monkstown, Dublin, with a stay in London, with her husband, poet and architect Francis J. Barry. The couple had four children: Siubhan, Jane, Guy, and
Man Booker Prize-shortlisted novels A Long Long Way and The Secret Scripture
.
O'Hara was a year-round sea-swimmer.[3]
Death
Joan O'Hara Barry (she kept her maiden name as her stage name) died in Dublin on 23 July 2007 of complications from a blood clot, aged 76. Her death was announced on RTÉ News the following day.[4]
See also
References
- ^ "Admired and gifted Abbey actor who put family first". The Irish Times. 28 July 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ a b Moloney, Eugene; O'Brien, Jason (25 July 2007). "Joan O'Hara, ex-Abbey star and Fair City gossip, dies". Irish Independent.
- ^ Prone, Terry (30 July 2007). "Our inability to choose how we will be remembered is Deeply Regretted". Irish Examiner.
Her death, last week, was surrounded by injustices, not least of them the fact that such a fitness freak (she was a year-round sea-swimmer) should not have survived into serious old age.
- ^ "Fair City actress Joan O'Hara dies". RTÉ. 24 July 2007.
External links
- Joan O'Hara at IMDb
| Authority control databases: Artists |
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