Joseph Tomelty
Encyclopedia
Joseph Tomelty was a Northern Irish character actor and playwright. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage, starring in Sam Thompson
Sam Thompson (writer)
Sam Thompson was a Northern Irish playwright best known for his controversial plays Over the Bridge, which exposes sectarianism, and Cemented with Love, which focuses on political corruption...

's 1960 play Over the Bridge.

Early life

Joseph Tomelty was born in Portaferry, the eldest of seven children. His father was known as 'Rollickin' James' for his skill on the fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

. He left his local primary school aged 12 and was apprenticed to the trade of housepainter, his father's trade. He moved to Belfast and attended classes at Belfast Technical College.

Career

Tomelty first acted with St Peter's Players and with others in 1937 and 1938 took part in discussions which led to the formation of the Northern Ireland Players on a more professional basis. Radio plays Barnum is Right and Elopement were broadcast in December 1938 and February 1939 respectively. The Northern Ireland Players chose the stage version of Barnum is Right for their first major commercial venture at the Empire in June 1939. In 1940 the Northern Ireland Players joined forces with the Ulster Theatre and the Jewish Institute Dramatic Society to form the Group Theatre, and in 1942 Tomelty became its general manager remaining in the post until 1951. His play, Idolatry at Innishargie, enjoyed a short run at the Group Theatre in 1942, but The End House, a controversial political play, did not even appear there. The play dealt with, what he described as 'the inhumanity that resulted from the Special Powers Act'. It was however performed at the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...

 in Dublin in 1944. Meanwhile his career as a character actor had rapidly developed and a successful stage and film career was underway. In 1948 he was commissioned by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 in Belfast to write the weekly radio comedy drama series The McCooeys. This radio series lasted for seven years with Tomelty writing 6,000 word scripts for each episode. He continued to write plays, including his masterpiece, and a modern Irish theatre classic, All Souls' Night in 1948. In England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1954 he suffered a car accident and, while he recovered, he was never as productive again.

Family

His brother, Peter Tomelty, was a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

 and recording artist. His daughter, Frances Tomelty
Frances Tomelty
Frances Tomelty is a Northern Irish actress and the first wife of Sting. She is the daughter of Belfast actor Joseph Tomelty ....

, is an actress and the first wife of singer and musician Sting. His daughter, Roma Tomelty, is also an actress.

Plays

  • Barnum was Right (1939)
  • Idolatry at Inishargie (1942)
  • Poor Errand (1943)
  • Right Again Barnum (1943)
  • The End House (1944)
  • All Souls' Night (1948)
  • The Singing Bird (1948)
  • Down the Heather Glen (1953)
  • April in Assagh (1954)
  • The Drunken Sailor (1954)
  • Is the Priest at Home? (1954)

Partial filmography

  • Odd Man Out
    Odd Man Out
    Odd Man Out is a 1947 Anglo-Irish film noir directed by Carol Reed, starring James Mason, and is based on a novel of the same name by F. L. Green.-Plot:The film's opening intertitle reads:...

     (1947)
  • The Sound Barrier (1952)
  • The Gentle Gunman
    The Gentle Gunman
    The Gentle Gunman is a black-and-white 1952 Ealing Studios drama film, directed by Basil Dearden and starring John Mills and Dirk Bogarde.-Plot:...

     (1952)
  • Meet Mr. Lucifer
    Meet Mr. Lucifer
    Meet Mr. Lucifer is a black and white British comedy satire film released in 1953 starring Stanley Holloway. Filmed at Ealing Studios, London, The film is based on the play Beggar My Neighbour by Arnold Ridley -Plot:When Mr Pedelty leaves his firm, he is given a...

     (1953)
  • Front Page Story
    Front Page Story
    Front Page Story is a 1954 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Allan and Eva Bartok.-Cast:* Jack Hawkins as Grant* Elizabeth Allan as Susan Grant* Eva Bartok as Mrs. Thorpe* Derek Farr as Teale...

     (1954)
  • Hobson's Choice (1954)
  • Devil Girl from Mars
    Devil Girl from Mars
    Devil Girl from Mars is a black and white 1954 British science fiction film, directed by David MacDonald. It was adapted from a stage play and became a cult favorite.-Synopsis:...

     (1954)
  • The Young Lovers
    The Young Lovers
    The Young Lovers is a 1954 British Cold War romance drama, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Odile Versois and David Knight. The film was produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan, with cinematography from Jack Asher and screenplay by George Tabori and Robin Estridge...

     (1954)
  • Simba
    Simba (film)
    Simba is a 1955 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Dirk Bogarde, Donald Sinden, Virginia McKenna and Basil Sydney...

     (1955)
  • A Prize of Gold
    A Prize of Gold
    A Prize of Gold is a British 1955 Warwick Films heist film directed by Mark Robson partly filmed in West Berlin. The film stars Richard Widmark as a United States Air Force Air Police Master Sergeant motivated by love and compassion to begin a life of crime...

     (1955)
  • A Kid for Two Farthings
    A Kid for Two Farthings (film)
    A Kid For Two Farthings is a 1955 film, directed by Carol Reed. The screenplay was adapted by Wolf Mankowitz from his own novel of the same name.-Plot:...

     (1955)
  • John and Julie
    John and Julie
    John and Julie was a 1955 British comedy film. It featured Peter Sellers and Sid James in early screen roles-Plot:John and Julie are two children who personally want to see The Queen's coronation in spite of the fact that their parents have no intention of going. The two decide to run off to...

     (1955)
  • Moby Dick
    Moby Dick (1956 film)
    Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Ray Bradbury and the director. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn...

     (1956)
  • A Night to Remember (1958)
  • Tread Softly Stranger
    Tread Softly Stranger
    Tread Softly Stranger is a 1958 British crime drama directed by Gordon Parry and starring Diana Dors, George Baker and Terence Morgan. The film was shot in black-and-white in film noir style, and its setting in a gritty working industrial town in northern England mirrors the kitchen sink realism...

     (1958)
  • The Captain's Table
    The Captain's Table
    The Captain's Table is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee from a novel by Richard Gordon. It starred John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins, Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier and June Jago...

     (1959)
  • Upstairs and Downstairs
    Upstairs and Downstairs
    Upstairs and Downstairs is a 1959 British comedy drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, Mylène Demongeot, Claudia Cardinale, James Robertson Justice, Joan Sims, Joan Hickson and Sid James...

     (1959)
  • Hell Is a City
    Hell Is a City
    Hell Is a City is a 1960 film based on the novel by Maurice Procter. It was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions filmed in Manchester it was also written and directed by Val Guest...

     (1960)
  • The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
    The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
    The Day They Robbed the Bank of England is a 1960 British crime film directed by John Guillermin. It was written by Howard Clewes and Richard Maibaum and based upon a novel by John Brophy....

     (1960)
  • Lancelot and Guinevere
    Lancelot and Guinevere
    Lancelot and Guinevere is a British 1963 film starring Cornel Wilde, his real-life wife at the time, Jean Wallace, and Brian Aherne...

     (1963)
  • The Black Torment
    The Black Torment
    The Black Torment is a 1964 British gothic horror film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by brothers Donald and Derek Ford...

     (1964)

External links

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