Introduction
Eamon Gerard Murphy (14 October 1948 – 26 August 2013) was a Northern Irish film, television and theatre actor.
Life and career
Born in 1948 in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, Murphy began his career on stage with the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. He branched out into television work with roles in Z-Cars, Doctor Who, Minder, Heartbeat, Father Ted, Dalziel and Pascoe and The Bill. He narrated the BBC Radio version of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
His film roles include the pirate and spy "The Nord" in Waterworld, and as the corrupt High Court Judge Faden in Batman Begins.
Onstage, Murphy portrayed Hector in Alan Bennett's The History Boys, a role previously played by Richard Griffiths, in a national tour co-produced by the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Theatre Royal, Bath and directed by Christopher Luscombe.
In addition, he played Salieri in a 2007 production of Amadeus directed by Nikolai Foster. Although suffering in 2012 from spinal cord compression due to prostate cancer, Murphy appeared in Glasgow Citizens Theatre's production of Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett.
Murphy died at the age of 64 on 26 August 2013 in Cambridge from prostate cancer, which he bravely battled for over two years.
Filmography
- Sacred Hearts (1985) - Father Larkin
- Waterworld (1995) - Nord
- This Is the Sea (1997) - (voice)
- Batman Begins (2005) - Judge Faden
- Pumpgirl (2009) - Shawshank
- The Comedian (2012) - (final film role)
Selected theatre
- Dreaming by Peter Barnes.World premiere directed by Matthew Lloyd at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1999)
- Phil Hogan in A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O’Neill. Directed by Matthew Lloyd at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2001)
- The title role in Volpone by Ben Jonson. Directed by Greg Hersov at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2004)
- Chorus in Henry V. Directed by Jonathon Munby at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2007)