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Patrick Bergin

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Patrick Bergin
Born
Patrick Connolly Bergin

(1951-02-04) 4 February 1951 (age 73)
Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Years active1970–present
SpousePaula Frazier (m. 1992; divorced)
Children1[1]

Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951)[2] is an Irish actor and singer perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), the title character in Robin Hood, terrorist Kevin O'Donnell in Patriot Games and for playing the villainous Aidan Maguire in the BBC soap EastEnders in 2017–2018.

Early life

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Bergin was born in Dublin, where he grew up in Drimnagh. His father, Paddy Bergin, was a Labour Party politician[3][4] who once studied to be a priest with the Holy Ghost Fathers in Blackrock, Ireland.[4] Patrick was one of four sons and one daughter (Pearse, Emmet, Patrick, Allen and Siobhan Bergin).[4][5] He left Dublin for London in 1973,[4] and by the time he was 17 he was in London running a theatre company.[3] He worked on building sites and at a library.[3][4] He studied at night and completed an education degree from North London Polytechnic.[3] He was an English teacher for several years, then formed his own theatrical company because "no one else would have him".[4][5] His brother Emmet Bergin also became an actor, best known for playing Dick Moran in the soap opera Glenroe for its full 1983–2001 run.[6]

Career

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In 1980, Bergin decided to pursue acting full-time and found work in repertory theatre.[7] Despite appearing as the explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton in the critically acclaimed Mountains of the Moon (1990), for much of the 1990s it seemed that no one in Hollywood was interested in him. He accepted diverse acting roles, including a trilogy of Yeats plays; Morphine and Dolly Mixtures, for which he won a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actor; Durango, based on John B Keane's novel; hosting TnaG's Suilín Draíochta; and narrating Patrick Cassidy's Famine Remebrance.[4] After Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), he portrayed the title character in Robin Hood, opposite Uma Thurman as Maid Marian. He describes 1996 as the lowest point in his career, a time when he rarely received any calls for movie roles.[4]

Internationally, Bergin's best-known role may be that of the menacing husband of Julia Roberts' character in the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy. He is also known for his role as Irish terrorist Kevin O'Donnell in the film adaptation of Tom Clancy's Patriot Games. He also appeared as Robin Hood in a 1991 film.[8] In 2013 he appeared in the Scottish film The Wee Man playing notorious Glasgow gangster Arthur 'The Godfather' Thompson. He joined the BBC soap EastEnders towards the end of 2017,[9] departing in March 2018.

Music

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Bergin leads the band Patrick Bergin and the Spirit Merchants. They had a top 10 hit in Ireland with their song "The Knacker", released in 2003, which tells the story of a person who recycles horse carcasses and turns them into glue. As a singer, Bergin collaborated with Vlad DeBriansky and appeared on his album Jacks Last Dollar. He also appeared in the video of DJ Steve Mac's song "Paddy's Revenge".[10]

Bergin was onstage singing the Leonard Cohen song "Anthem" as Pope Francis, on his visit to Ireland, arrived in Croke Park for the Festival of Families as part of the World Meeting of Families 2018.[11]

Charity work

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In 1993, Bergin bought an old church in County Tipperary and converted it into a poetry centre. He explained: "I've recently come to feel I can encourage children and teenagers with their writing.[7] I'm continually giving groups money to make videos, but I insist that they have a good script. I do it because it makes the difference between them doing a video or not. It doesn't cost a lot, and it gives kids an incredible boost of confidence."[7] In 1998, in response to the murder of a 14-year-old Tallaght boy, Ben Smyth, Bergin helped to establish a special fund to sponsor young children from Tallaght.[4]

Personal life

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At a wedding in the early 1980s, Bergin met his future wife, Paula Frazier, a British woman of African-Caribbean descent. They married in Trinidad and Tobago in 1992. They have a daughter, Tatiana (Tia).[4] After their divorce, Bergin began dating Helen Goldin.[12]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1988 Taffin Mo Taffin
1988 The Courier Christy
1990 Mountains of the Moon Richard Burton
1991 Sleeping with the Enemy Martin
1991 Robin Hood Sir Robert Hode / Robin Hood
1991 Highway to Hell Beezle
1992 Love Crimes David Hanover
1992 Map of the Human Heart Walter Russell
1992 Patriot Games Kevin O'Donnell
1992 The Hummingbird Tree Stephen Holmes
1993 All Tied Up Bartender (uncredited) Direct-to-Video
1994 Double Cross Jack Conealy Direct-to-Video
1994 Soft Deceit Adam Trent
1996 Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace Dr. Benjamin Trace
1996 The Proposition Rhys Williams
1996 Angela Mooney Older Malone
1997 The Island on Bird Street Stefan
1997 Suspicious Minds Jack Ramsey
1998 The Lost World Challenger
1999 Treasure Island Billy Bones
1999 Promise Her Anything Vernon Fry
1999 One Man's Hero General Winfield Scott
1999 Eye of the Beholder Alexander Leonard
1999 Escape Velocity Cal "Captain of the Harbinger"
1999 Africa John Young
2000 Press Run Alex Dodge
2000 When the Sky Falls Mackey
2000 Merlin: The Return King Arthur
2001 Cause of Death Taylor Lewis
2001 The Invisible Circus Gene
2001 High Explosive Jack Randall
2001 Devil's Prey Minister Seth
2001 Silent Grace Peter, IRA man
2002 Beneath Loch Ness Blay
2001 Amazons and Gladiators Crassius
2003 Bloom The citizen
2003 The Boys from County Clare Padjo
2004 Ella Enchanted Sir Peter
2004 Berserker Thorsson
2004 High Art, Low Life Cameron's Driver
2006 Johnny Was Flynn
2006 False Prophets Karl Hawthorne
2006 Played Riley
2006 Secret of the Cave Patrick Wallace
2006 The Far Side of Jericho Jake
2007 Casanova's Last Stand Casanova
2007 Babyface John Roth
2007 The Black Pimpernel US Ambassador
2007 Strength and Honour Papa Boss
2008 Dick Dickman P.I. unknown role
2008 Ghostwood Fr Paul
2010 Eva Oswald
2011 The McBrearty Affair Narrator Short Film
2011 A Kiss and a Promise Detective Anthony Dolan
2011 Birthday Hugo
2011 Perfect Day Rick's Father
2012 Eldorado Roy Direct-to-Video
2012 Absolute Fear Captain Morrow
2012 Songs for Amy Patrick
2012 Shark Week Tiburon
2012 Gallowwalkers Marshall Gaza
2012 Angel Successful Man Short Film
2013 The Wee Man Arthur Thompason
2013 Dance of the Steel Bars Frank
2013 The Minnitts of Anabeg Lord Goode
2014 Margery Booth: The Spy in the Eagle's Nest Standartenfuhrer Kummel
2015 Age of Kill Sir Alistair Montcrief
2016 Free Fire Howie
2016 We Still Steal the Old Way George Briggs
2016 Cage Peter Karl Bradley
2017 Native Irish Man Short Film
2017 Roth John Roth
2018 Train Set Major Julian Muir
2019 Odilo Fabian or (The Possibility of Impossible Dreams) The Mayor of Doubt Short Film
2020 The Last Days of American Crime Rossi Dumois
2021 Finding You Seamus
2021 The Kindred Father Monroe
2022 God's Petting You The American
2022 Blackbird The Head
2022 The Ulysses Project Buck Mulligan / Leopold Bloom
2022 Nutcracker Massacre Dmitri / Toymaker
2023 One Ranger Doc

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1983 Those Glory Glory Days Spurs Team Member TV Movie
1987 Boon DS Beecher "Credit Where It's Due"
1987 Lapsed Catholics Paul McNally TV Movie
1988 Act of Betrayal Michael McGurk Miniseries (2 episodes)
1990 The Real Charlotte Roderick Lambert Miniseries (3 episodes)
1991 Screen Two Terence O'Farrell "Morphine and the Dolly Mixtures"
1992 Frankenstein Dr. Victor Frankenstein TV Movie
1993 Children of the Mist Mark Samules TV Movie
1994 Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics Dr. Benjamin Ramsey TV Movie (segment "Where the Dead Are")
1995 Tripplecross Jimmy Ray TV Movie
1996 The Witch's Daughter Mr. Smith TV Movie
1997 The Apocalypse Watch Drew Latham TV Movie
1997 Stolen Women, Captured Hearts Daniel Morgan TV Movie
1997 The Ripper Inspector Jim Hansen TV Movie
1999 Durango Fergus Mullaney TV Movie
1999 Expedition Journal N/A Assistant Producer (1 episode)
2000 St. Patrick: The Irish Legend Patrick TV Movie
2001 Jewel Leston Hilburn TV Movie
2002 King of Texas Mr. Highsmith TV Movie
2002 Dracula Vladislav Tepes / Dracula 2 episodes
2003 Brush with Fate Headmaster TV Movie
2003 Smallville Morgan Edge "Shattered"
2005 Icon Igor Komarov TV Movie
2005 Casanova's Love Letters Casanova Miniseries (1 episode)
2006 Driven Gerald Workman "#1.1"
2009 Hustle Toby Baxter "Diamond Seeker"
2011 Ice Quinn Miniseries (2 episodes)
2016 Fir Bolg Sean Seoige 2 episodes
2017 No Offense Earl Kennedy "#2.1"
2017 Red Rock Jim Tierney recurring role (7 episodes)
2017–2018 EastEnders Aidan Maguire series regular (32 episodes)
2018 Quantico Liam Killoran "Who Are You?"
2019 Wild Bill Frank McGill "Nothing Behind the Curtain"
2020 The South Westerlies Big Mike recurring role (6 episodes)
2024 FBI: International Niall Walsh "Touts"

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
1989 AACTA Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Mini Series Act of Betrayal Nominated
1992 BAFTA Cymru Best Actor (Yr Actor Gorau) Screen Two Won
Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor Sleeping with the Enemy Nominated
2018 International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Best Supporting Actor Train Set Nominated
Madrid International Film Festival Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Taking one breath at a time". independent. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Happy Birthday: Natalie Imbruglia, 38". The Times. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Patrick Bergin's 'Beastly Side' A Boon To His Career". Chicago Tribune. 13 June 1993. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Interview with the vampire". Irish Independent. 29 July 2001. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Patrick Bergin". People. 4 May 1992.
  6. ^ Wilson, Jade (19 March 2024). "Actor Emmet Bergin, best known for role in RTÉ series Glenroe, dies". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Patrick Bergin's 'Beastly Side' A Boon To His Career". Chicago Tribune. 13 June 1993.
  8. ^ "Fox Network Gets the Jump on Big-Screen Production of 'Robin Hood'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  9. ^ "Patrick Bergin joins EastEnders cast". 11 September 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via www.bbc.com.
  10. ^ "Patrick Bergin's saucy Irish jig takes web by storm – News, Entertainment". The Belfast Telegraph. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Pope Francis Arrives At Dublin's Croke Park To Patrick Bergin Singing Leonard Cohen's Anthem". Cohen Centric. 26 August 2018. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  12. ^ Walsh, Niamh (28 May 2018). "Irish actor Patrick Bergin loved up with new girlfriend". EVOKE.ie. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
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