Lorcan Cranitch
Encyclopedia
Lorcan Cranitch is an Irish
actor.
Born in Dublin, Cranitch became involved in drama while a student, and moved to London where he entered RADA
in 1980. His first major role on British television was as Tim Healy
in the 1991 BBC
drama series, Parnell and the Englishwoman. However, it was as the troubled DS Jimmy Beck in Cracker
(1993-1995)that he became a familiar face to viewers. After Cranitch informed the TV bosses of his intention to leave the show following the second season, his character was killed off in a spectacular suicide scene in October 1995.
Following Cracker, Cranitch returned to BBC in a part specially written for him, as Sean Dillon in Ballykissangel
. In 2001, he starred in the short-lived drama series McCready and Daughter, taking on a role originally intended for his former Ballykissangel co-star, Tony Doyle, who died shortly before the series was due to be filmed.
Cranitch has appeared in several other British television dramas, including Deacon Brodie (with Billy Connolly
), Shackleton (with Kenneth Branagh
) and Hornblower (with Ioan Gruffudd
), and in the film, Dancing at Lughnasa
. He has appeared on stage with the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and with the Royal Shakespeare Company
, notably as John Hall
in The Herbal Bed
, and has played George Bernard Shaw
on BBC radio
. In 1997, Cranitch turned down the role of Irish third-class passenger Tommy Ryan in James Cameron
's Titanic
; instead he took on the role of rogue Danny Bradley in Dancing at Lughnasa
, which starred Meryl Streep
(and reunited him with his Cracker co-star Brid Brennan
). In 1998 Lorcan also appeared in the TV series Close Relations.
In 2003 he appeared in the episodes "Loyalty" and "Duty" of the ITV series "Hornblower" as the antagonist "Wolfe".
In 2005, he again took a villainous role in the HBO/BBC
production of Rome
, as the underworld baron Erastes Fulmen
, and starred in several episodes of the ITV police soap, The Bill
. In the 2009 BBC drama Best: His Mother's Son, he played Dickie Best, the father of footballer George Best
. In 2009, Cranitch also starred in The Clinic, alongside Alison Doody
, as villain Diarmuid.
Cranitch is married to Susan Jackson, a journalist and newsreader with RTÉ.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
actor.
Born in Dublin, Cranitch became involved in drama while a student, and moved to London where he entered RADA
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
in 1980. His first major role on British television was as Tim Healy
Timothy Michael Healy
Timothy Michael Healy, KC , also known as Tim Healy, was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and one of the most controversial Irish Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
in the 1991 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...
drama series, Parnell and the Englishwoman. However, it was as the troubled DS Jimmy Beck in Cracker
Cracker (UK TV series)
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
(1993-1995)that he became a familiar face to viewers. After Cranitch informed the TV bosses of his intention to leave the show following the second season, his character was killed off in a spectacular suicide scene in October 1995.
Following Cracker, Cranitch returned to BBC in a part specially written for him, as Sean Dillon in Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel is a BBC television drama set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 1996 to 2001...
. In 2001, he starred in the short-lived drama series McCready and Daughter, taking on a role originally intended for his former Ballykissangel co-star, Tony Doyle, who died shortly before the series was due to be filmed.
Cranitch has appeared in several other British television dramas, including Deacon Brodie (with Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
), Shackleton (with Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
) and Hornblower (with Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
), and in the film, Dancing at Lughnasa
Dancing at Lughnasa
Dancing at Lughnasa is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in Ireland's County Donegal in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator...
. He has appeared on stage with the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
, notably as John Hall
John Hall (physician)
John Hall was a physician and son-in-law of William Shakespeare.-Life:He was born at Carlton, Bedfordshire and studied at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1589, receiving a B.A. in 1593 and a M.A. in 1597...
in The Herbal Bed
The Herbal Bed
The Herbal Bed is a play by Peter Whelan, written specifically for the Royal Shakespeare Company.During 1997 the play had a successful run at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End. The leading role of John Hall was played by Lorcan Cranitch...
, and has played George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
on BBC radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. In 1997, Cranitch turned down the role of Irish third-class passenger Tommy Ryan in James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
's Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
; instead he took on the role of rogue Danny Bradley in Dancing at Lughnasa
Dancing at Lughnasa
Dancing at Lughnasa is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in Ireland's County Donegal in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator...
, which starred Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
(and reunited him with his Cracker co-star Brid Brennan
Brid Brennan
Brid Brennan is an Irish actress, best known for her theatre work. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Theatre work:Brennan created the role of Agnes Mundy in Brian Friel's play Dancing at Lughnasa. She played the role in the original Dublin, West End and Broadway productions, winning a...
). In 1998 Lorcan also appeared in the TV series Close Relations.
In 2003 he appeared in the episodes "Loyalty" and "Duty" of the ITV series "Hornblower" as the antagonist "Wolfe".
In 2005, he again took a villainous role in the HBO/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...
production of Rome
Rome (TV series)
Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
, as the underworld baron Erastes Fulmen
Erastes Fulmen
Erastes Fulmen is a fictional character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Irish actor Lorcan Cranitch. He is depicted as a ruthless businessman, who over the course of the first season becomes one of the leading figures in the Roman underworld.-Personality:While wearing the...
, and starred in several episodes of the ITV police soap, The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
. In the 2009 BBC drama Best: His Mother's Son, he played Dickie Best, the father of footballer George Best
George Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
. In 2009, Cranitch also starred in The Clinic, alongside Alison Doody
Alison Doody
-Early life:The youngest of three children, she was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her mother, Joan, was a beauty therapist, and her father, Patrick, worked in the property business and farmed...
, as villain Diarmuid.
Cranitch is married to Susan Jackson, a journalist and newsreader with RTÉ.
- Cranitch relates an amusing episode during his interview for the Citizen's theatre. After he had given both his modern and classical pieces, and having chatted at length to all three of the directorial triumvirate of Giles Havergal, Philip Prowse, and Robert David McDonald, Havergal stood up and shook Lorcan's hand, and in doing so, swiftly bent down to scoop something from the floor. "Are these yours?" Havergal asked, presenting Cranitch with a pair of underpants, Lorcan's own, yesterday's, trapped in his jeans, which had made their way down his trouser leg and landed on the floor during his audition.