Orla Brady
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| Orla Brady | |
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| Born | Orla Brady 28 March 1961 Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Spouse(s) | Nick Brandt (2002-present) |
Orla Brady (born 28 March 1961) is an Irish actress.
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[edit] Biography
The second of four children born to Dublin publican Patrick (who used to own the Oak Bar in Temple Bar), and his acting-frustrated wife Catherine, who had appeared in amateur productions at the Gate Theatre.[1] Educated at a Roman Catholic convent school, as a teenager she was insecure, worried about her weight and felt partly constrained by her strict Catholic upbringing. At around 16, Brady read Germaine Greer and Simone de Beauvoir,[2] and decided she wanted to act.[3]
[edit] Early career
Feeling herself technically incapable of acting, she drifted - travelling, working as a waitress and shop assistant: My 20s were torture. I found men terrifying. I didn't know how to relate to them and, because of that, there was no way I could have stood on a stage and asked people to look at me. I just wasn't comfortable in my skin.[3]
She moved to London, England, and undertook some part-time modelling. One piece of day work for which she was paid £50 was to pose for a DIY-painting guide The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual. After the original of Jack Vettriano's painting The Singing Butler was sold at auction in 2004 for £750,000, it was revealed that the painter had used the manual to from his figures for the painting, including Orla for the 'lady in red.'[3]
In 1986 aged 26,[2] she applied via the French Embassy in London for a bursary to study theatre in Paris. After struggling through her French language interview,[1] she studied for a year at the L'École Philippe Gaulier and secured a place at the École Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris founded by Marcel Marceau.
[edit] Main stream
After graduation, she returned to Dublin and immediately won the role of Adela in the House of Bernarda Alba at the Gate Theatre,[4] and then worked with Cambridge-based physical theatre company, Balloonatics, and discovered the fun of theatre through alternative productions of Finnegans Wake and Hamlet.[1]
Her first piece of professional work in England was in Blinded by the Sun at the Royal National Theatre,[2] and developed a career based on both Irish and British located theatre, television an movies. These have included the BBC's A Love Divided as Sheila Cloney, Mistresses and has narrated on Freaky Eaters.
From 2001 she decided to spend a period in Los Angeles, the United States where she has appeared mainly in televisions series, including the short-lived Family Law. She has also starred in Nip/Tuck, a US drama about plastic surgeons as Dr. Jordan, a female plastic surgeon who, unusually for the series, declined sex with Dr. Christian Troy. She later starred as Claire Stark, the divorced ex-wife of James Woods in hit series Shark.
[edit] Personal life
Having had a low-volume string of relationships, Brady moved to Los Angeles in 2001 for work, and decided to remain single. Invited to a friend's party, the English wildlife photographer Nick Brandt became fascinated by her passionate berating of George W. Bush. The couple married in December 2002 in a ceremony with a view of Mount Kilimanjaro.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Orla Brady. RTÉ (2008-01-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ a b c Philby, Charlotte (2008-01-05). How Do I Look?: Orla Brady, actress, 46. The Independent. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ a b c d O'Brien, Catherine (2008-01-18). My life as a masterpiece by actress Orla Brady. Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ Biography. orlabrady.org. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
[edit] External links
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