Colm Meaney

Colm J. Meaney (/ˈkɒləm/;^[1] Irish: Colm Ó Maonaigh; born 30 May 1953) is an Irish actor best known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). He has guest-starred on many TV shows including Law & Order and The Simpsons, and starred as Thomas C. Durant on Hell on Wheels (2011–2016).

Colm Meaney
Meaney in 2016
Born	(1953-05-30) 30 May 1953 (age 71) Dublin, Ireland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Spouses	Bairbre Dowling ​ ​ (m. 1977; div. 1994)​ Ines Glorian ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2

He has a career in films, appearing in Layer Cake, The Damned United, all three film adaptations of Roddy Doyle's The Barrytown Trilogy, and in Get Him to the Greek. He portrayed a principal character in the film The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain.^[2] In 2017, Meaney won the Best Actor IFTA for his portrayal of Irish politician Martin McGuinness in the film The Journey. In 2020, he was listed at number 24 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.^[3]

Early life

Meaney was born and raised in Glasnevin, Dublin.^[4] He began studying acting at age 14, and he entered the Abbey Theatre School of Acting after secondary school. He became a member of the Irish National Theatre and worked for the next eight years in England, touring with several theatre companies, including the 7:84 theatre group founded by John McGrath.^[5]

Career

Meaney (right) with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine co-stars Marc Alaimo (left) and Armin Shimerman (middle)

Meaney's first television appearance was in Z-Cars on BBC One, in 1978. He guest-starred on shows such as Remington Steele and Moonlighting before embarking on a successful film career; he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for his role in The Snapper.^[6]

Meaney first appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation in its 1987 pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint", as an unnamed helm officer. His character became a frequently recurring one, and was given the name of Miles O'Brien as he became more prominent in the crew as Transporter Chief. In 1993, Meaney left The Next Generation for a main role in its spin-off Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and remained on that show until its final episode, in 1999. With 225 total appearances on Star Trek, he is second to Michael Dorn with most appearances on the franchise.^[7]

Meaney played Colum O'Hara in the 1994 miniseries Scarlett, the sequel to Gone With the Wind. He has played a minor recurring role as Cowen,^[8] leader of the Genii on the series Stargate Atlantis,^[9] guest-starred on Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and appeared as Bob O'Donnell on the ABC show Men in Trees. Meaney appeared in the film Die Hard 2, playing the pilot of the plane Windsor 114 that was later crashed by Colonel Stuart.^[10]

He was the only actor to appear in all three film adaptations of Roddy Doyle's The Barrytown Trilogy, as the father of the Rabbitte family. His stage appearances include the Old Vic production of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten. Meaney starred in British comedy film Three and Out (released in the UK on 25 April 2008). In July of the same year An Post (the Irish Post Office^[11]) issued a postage stamp showing Meaney as Joe Mullen in the film Kings.^[12]

In 2009, Meaney co-starred with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx in Law Abiding Citizen, playing Detective Dunnigan. In March 2009, Meaney voiced an Irish bartender on the St. Patrick's Day episode of The Simpsons, "In the Name of the Grandfather". In the same month the film The Damned United was released, a mostly fictional retelling of the 44-day period in which Brian Clough was manager of Leeds United F.C. Meaney played former Leeds manager Don Revie. He co-starred in Soldiers of Fortune. In 2013, Meaney co-starred in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. In 2014, he appeared as The Horse in the BBC's three-part crime story The Driver. For five seasons he portrayed railroad magnate Thomas C. Durant on AMC's drama series Hell on Wheels.^[13]

Personal life

Meaney married Irish actress Bairbre Dowling in 1977. Their daughter Brenda, also an actor, was born in 1984.^[14] The couple divorced in 1994.^[15] He married French costume designer Ines Glorian in March 2007. Their daughter was born in 2005. They live in the Majorcan town of Sóller.^[16]

Meaney is a supporter of Sinn Féin.^[6]

Acting credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Nailed	Younger Protestant
1987	Omega Syndrome	Sean
	The Dead	Mr. Bergin
1990	Die Hard 2	Pilot
	Dick Tracy	Cop at Tess's
	Come See the Paradise	Gerry McGurn
1991	The Commitments	Jimmy Rabbitte, Sr.
1992	Under Siege	Daumer
	The Last of the Mohicans	Maj. Ambrose
	Far and Away	Kelly
	Into the West	Barreller
1993	The Snapper	Dessie Curley	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1994	War of the Buttons	Jerome/Geronimo's father
	The Road to Wellville	Dr. Lionel Badger
1995	The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain	Morgan the Goat
1996	The Van	Larry
	The Last of the High Kings	Jim Davern
1997	Con Air	Agent Duncan Malloy
	Owd Bob	Keith Moore
1998	This Is My Father	Seamus, owner of the Bed and Breakfast
	Monument Ave.	Jackie O'Hara	a.k.a. Snitch
	October 22	Steve
	Claire Dolan	Roland Cain
1999	Mystery, Alaska	Mayor Scott Pitcher
	Chapter Zero	Frank Lazarus
	Four Days	Fury
	Most Important	Dan O'Neill
	The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns	Seamus Muldoon
2001	Backflash	Gin O'Malley	Video
	How Harry Became a Tree	Harry	Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor
2003	The Boys from County Clare	Jimmy
	Intermission	Jerry Lynch
2004	Blueberry	Jimmy McClure
	Layer Cake	Gene
	Battle of the Brave	Benjamin Franklin
2005	Turning Green	Tom
2006	Five Fingers	Gavin
	A Lobster Tale	Cody
2007	Kings	Joe Mullan	Nominated – Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor
	The Metrosexual	The Mayor	Great Lakes Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor
2008	Clean Break	Trevor Jones
	Three and Out	Tommy
2009	The Damned United	Don Revie
	The Race	Frank Kensay
	Law Abiding Citizen	Detective Dunnigan
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Jonathan Snow
	Alleged	H. L. Mencken
	Parked	Fred Daly
	The Conspirator	Gen. David Hunter
2011	El Perfecto Desconocido	Mark O'Reilly
2012	Whole Lotta Sole	Detective Weller	Known as Stand Off in North America
	Bel Ami	Monsieur Rousset
	Soldiers of Fortune	Carter Mason
	The Hot Potato	Harry
	The Cold Light of Day	CIA Agent
2013	Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa	Pat Farrell
	One Chance	Roland Potts
	A Belfast Story	Detective
	Free Birds	Myles Standish	Voice
2014	The Devil's Hand	Elder Beacon
2016	Norm of the North	Grandfather	Voice
	Pelé: Birth of a Legend	George Raynor
	The Journey	Martin McGuinness
	The Secrets of Emily Blair	Father Avital
2017	Halal Daddy	Martin Logan
2019	Tolkien	Father Francis
	Seberg	Frank Ellroy
	The Last Right	Detective Donall Crowley
2020	The Banker	Patrick Barker
	Pixie	Dermot O’Brien
	There's Always Hope[17]	Jonathan Stack
2021	The Monkey[18][19]	MacDonell	Voice
2022	Confession	Father Peter
	Save the Cinema	Martyn
	Marlowe	Bernie Ohls
	Unwelcome	"Daddy" Whelan
	Three Day Millionaire	Mr. Barr
2023	In the Land of Saints and Sinners	Robert McQue
	The Problem with People	Ciáran
2024	No Way Up	Brandon
	The Ballad of Davy Crockett	Caleb
	Duchess	Frank Monaghan
	Bring Them Down	Ray
TBA	The Panic	J.P. Morgan	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Z-Cars	McGlin	Episode: "Pressure"
1981	Les roses de Dublin	Michael Kavanaugh	Miniseries
1982	Play for Tomorrow	Kevin Murphy	Episode: "Easter 2016"
	Strangers	Smollett	Episode: "Charlie's Brother's Birthday (Part 1)
1983	Playboy of the Western World	Shawn	Television film
1984	The Hidden Curriculum	David Dunn	Television film
1986	Moonlighting	Katharina Suitor	Episode: "Atomic Shakespeare"
1987	Remington Steele	Man in Tavern	Episode: "Steele Hanging in There: Part 2"
	Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues	Tinkerer	Television film
	Tales from the Darkside	Constable	Episode: "Beetles"
1987–1988	One Life to Live	Alf	Unknown episodes
1987–1992, 1994	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Chief Miles O'Brien	52 episodes
1989	Perfect Witness	Meagher	Television film
1990	Equal Justice	Nucchi	Episode: "The Art of the Possible"
	Father Dowling Mysteries	Ernie	Episode: "The Undercover Nun Mystery"
1991	The New Adam-12	Father	Episode: "Panic in Alverez Park"
	MacGyver	Dr. Irwin Malcolm	Episode: "Good Knight MacGyver: Part 1"
1993	Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman	Jake Slicker	Episode: "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"
	Brooklyn Bridge	Mr. Kramer	Episode: "Good as Gold"
1993–1999	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Chief Miles O'Brien	173 episodes
1994	Scarlett	Father Colum O'Hara	2 episodes
1996	Gargoyles	Mr. Dugan (voice)	Episode: "The Hound of Ulster"
1998	Money Kings	Al Sheehan	Television film; a.k.a. Vig
1999	The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns	Seamus Muldoon	Television film
2002	Random Passage	Thomas Hutchings	Miniseries Nominated – Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
	King of Texas	Mr. Tumlinson	Television film
2004	The Murdoch Mysteries	Inspector Brackenreid	2 episodes
	Bad Apple	Gibbons	Television film
2004–2006	Stargate Atlantis	Chief Cowen	3 episodes
2005	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Judge Harold Garrett	Episode: "In the Wee Small Hours"
2006	The Unit	Charge D'Affaires	Episode: "Security"
	Caved In: Prehistoric Terror	Vincent	Television film
	Covert One: The Hades Factor	Peter Howell	Television film
2007	Men in Trees	Bob O'Donnell	2 episodes
2008	Law & Order	Wyatt Landon	Episode: "Lost Boys"
2009	The Simpsons	Tom O'Flanagan (voice)	Episode: "In the Name of the Grandfather"
	Alice	King of Hearts	Miniseries
	ZOS: Zone of Separation	George Titac	Miniseries
	Mercy	Dr. Parks	Episode: "I Believe You Conrad"
2011–2016	Hell on Wheels	Thomas "Doc" Durant	51 episodes Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television (2013) Nominated – Irish Film & Television Award for Best Actor TV (2013)
2014	The Driver	The Horse	3 episodes
2015	Childhood's End[20]	Wainwright	Episode: "The Overlords"
2017	Will	James Burbage	10 episodes
2020	Gangs of London	Finn Wallace	5 episodes
	The Singapore Grip	Brendan Archer	6 episodes
2021	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Shelley Kelly	2 episodes
2022	The Serpent Queen	King Francis I	4 episodes

Stage

Year(s)	Production	Role(s)	Theater	Notes	Ref.
1987	Breaking the Code	Mick Ross	Neil Simon Theatre	7 November − 10 April	[21]
1992, 1993	Every Good Boy Deserves Favour	Colonel	Don Wash Auditorium Chicago Theatre Fox Theatre Minneapolis	15 − 16 February 10 − 11 April 17 April 24 April	[22][23][24]
2007	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Phil Hogan	Brooks Atkinson Theater	29 March − 10 June	[25]
2017	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Big Daddy	Apollo Theatre	23 July − 7 October	[26]
2018	The Iceman Cometh	Harry Hope	Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre	26 April − 1 July	[27]
2023	Bedbound	Dad	Galway International Arts Festival Olympia Theatre	14 − 29 July 8 − 12 August	[28]

References

1. "Article: Las Vegas 2004: Sunday's Highlights". Star Trek. Archived from the original on 14 August 2004. Retrieved 1 January 2006.
2. "The Holy Family in a Pane of Frosted Glass". A Million Tiny Gods. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2021.^{[permanent dead link]}
3. Clarke, Donald; Brady, Tara (13 June 2020). "The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order". The Irish Times.
4. "I had no time for them crying into their pints". The Irish Times. 22 September 2007. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
5. Jarlath Regan (10 May 2020). "Colm Meaney". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast) (356 ed.). SoundCloud. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
6. Addley, Esther (3 May 2017). "Colm Meaney on playing Martin McGuinness: 'He was born into this'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
7. Seibold, Witney. "Which Star Trek Actor Appeared In The Most Episodes?". Slashfilm. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
8. "10 Shows With The Best Cameos From Star Trek Actors". Screen Rant. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
9. "Stargate Atlantis on Sci Fi". TV Guide. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
10. "Die Hard 2 (1990) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDB. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
11. An Post—the Irish Post Office An Post (retrieved 28 May 2018)
12. Warren, Brian (Spring 2009). "That Was the Year That Was–2008 (part 1)". The Revealer. 58 (4). Seminole, FL: Éire Philatelic Association: 63. ISSN 0484-6125.
13. "Interview: Colm Meaney talks about Hell on Wheels". Flickering Myth. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
14. Murphy, Lauren (9 April 2024). "Colm Meaney's daughter Brenda on sharing the stage with her famous dad". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
15. Clarke, Donald (6 May 2017). "Colm Meaney: 'In this business, anybody who keeps their word for 7 minutes is pretty f**king rare'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
16. "Meaney: still cursing after all these years". Sunday Independent. 16 October 2011.
17. "British feature film 'There's Always Hope' completes filming in Algarve". The Portugal News. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
18. "Animation Film Session: The Monkey + Flee". Huesca International Film Festival. 6 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
19. "The Monkey". Comunidad de Madrid [Madrid Community]. 2021. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
20. The Deadline Team (12 January 2015). "'Hell On Wheels' Star Colm Meaney Cast In 'Childhood's End On Syfy - Deadline". Deadline.
21. "Breaking the Code". Playbill. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
22. Mangan, Timothy (17 February 1992). "MUSIC / STAGE REVIEW : A Starry Staging of 'Every Good Boy'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
23. "It's Mom Gates Mcfadden When Junior Comes Crawlin'". Chicago Tribune. 9 April 1993. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
24. "People - Patrick Stewart | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
25. "A Moon for the Misbegotten". Playbill. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
26. Gans, Andrew (5 December 2017). "Colm Meaney Joins Cast of London's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Starring Sienna Miller". Playbill. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
27. McPhee, Ryan (1 July 2018). "The Iceman Cometh, Starring Denzel Washington, Concludes Broadway Run July 1". Playbill. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
28. "Bedbound". Landmark Productions. Retrieved 9 April 2024.

External links

• Colm Meaney at IMDb