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Gabriel Byrne biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Gabriel Byrne
  • OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor
  • BIRTH DATE: May 12, 1950 (Age: 62)
  • EDUCATION: University College Dublin
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Dublin, Ireland
more about Gabriel

Best Known For

Actor and producer Gabriel Byrne was involved in many successful films, including Little Women, The Usual Suspects, Vanity Fair and Julie and Julia.

Synopsis

Actor Gabriel Byrne was born on May 12, 1950, in Dublin, Ireland. His mother was a nurse and his dad was a barrel maker. He explored several careers, including teaching, archaeology and becoming a priest. At 29, he joined Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. His film career took off when he starred in The Coen Brothers’ Miller’s Crossing. He produced In the Name of Father, which was nominated for five Oscars.

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Profile

Actor, writer, producer. Born May 12, 1950 in Dublin, Ireland. The eldest of six children, Gabriel Byrne was born to a poor Dublin nurse and a barrel maker. At age 12 he moved to England to become a priest, but was expelled for smoking. In January 2010, Byrnes stated he was abused by Christian Brothers in Ireland as a child.

He studied archaeology at University College Dublin and then switched gears once more to become a teacher at an all-girls school. After one of his students asked him to start a drama club, Byrne became interested in acting.

Gabriel Byrne joined Dublin??s prestigious Abbey Theatre at age 29 and made a name for himself in the Irish soap operas The Riordans and Bracken. After moving to America, he starred in two 1985 television miniseries, Christopher Columbus and Mussolini: the Untold Story. He made appearances in such films as Excalibur and Siesta before starring in The Coen Brothers?? Miller??s Crossing. The hit film made his name in Hollywood, and Byrne made several successful films throughout the 1990s, including Little Women, The Usual Suspects, The Man In The Iron Mask and End of Days.

More recently, he skillfully portrayed the privileged Marques of Steyne opposite Reese Witherspoon??s ambitious Becky Sharp in 2003's Vanity Fair. He won a Golden Globe for his role of Dr. Paul Weston in the 2008 HBO drama series In Treatment. In 2009, he played Paolo Vinci in Julie and Julia.

Gabriel Byrne has also produced several films, most notably In The Name of the Father, which was nominated for five Academy Awards.

Byrne married actress Ellen Barkin in 1988 and the couple have two children, John "Jack" Daniel, born in 1989 and Romy Marion, born in 1992. The couple divorced in 1999.

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