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Brendan Coyle

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Brendan Coyle
Coyle in June 2012
Born
David Coyle

(1962-12-02) 2 December 1962 (age 61)
Corby, England
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present
RelativesMatt Busby (great-uncle)

Brendan Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is a British-Irish actor.[1][2] He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for The Weir in 1999.[3] He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries North & South, Robert Timmins in the first three series of Lark Rise to Candleford, and more recently Mr Bates, the valet, in Downton Abbey, which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Early life

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Brendan Coyle was born David Coyle in Corby, Northamptonshire, on 2 December 1962, the son of a Patrick B Coyle and Bedelia M B Anderson. He has an older brother named Shaun [1] Due to his British birth and Irish heritage, he holds both British and Irish citizenship. He is the great-nephew of football manager Sir Matt Busby.[4] He studied drama in Dublin in 1981 and received a scholarship to Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London in 1983.[1]

Career

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Coyle received a Laurence Olivier Award in 1999 for his performance in Conor McPherson's The Weir and won a New York Critics Theater World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut for the same play in its New York production.[1] In 2001, Coyle appeared in the film Conspiracy as Gestapo Chief Heinrich Müller. He played Kaz Sweeney in the British drama, True Dare Kiss, and Nicholas Higgins in North & South for the BBC.

From 2008 he played Robert Timmins in three BBC series based on the Lark Rise to Candleford novels, written by Flora Thompson. In 2010, he began playing John Bates, valet and former British Army batman to the Earl of Grantham in Julian Fellowes's period drama series, Downton Abbey. Fellowes wrote the part for Coyle, and it won him nominations for a BAFTA and IFTA,[5] as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Awards as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2012. He also won three Screen Actors Guild Awards 2013–16. Coyle also played the character of Terry Starling in the short-lived Sky comedy series Starlings.

Personal life

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Coyle divides his time between London and Norfolk.[6] He is a fan of the football team Manchester United FC,[7] which was managed by his great-uncle Matt Busby.[4]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1994 Ailsa Miles Butler
1997 The Last Bus Home Steve Burkett
Tomorrow Never Dies Leading Seaman – HMS Bedford
1998 Soft Sand, Blue Sea Gerry
The General UVF Leader
Happy Birthday To Me Short
1999 I Could Read the Sky Francie
2001 Mapmaker Robert Bates
2005 Allegiance Michael Collins
The Jacket Damon
2006 Offside Duncan Miller
2009 Perrier's Bounty Jerome
2012 The Raven Reagan
2014 Noble Gerry Shaw
2016 Me Before You Bernard Clark
Bare Mick "The Irish Hammer" Short
2018 Mary Queen of Scots Earl of Lennox
2019 Downton Abbey John Bates
2022 Downton Abbey: A New Era
2025 Untitled Downton Abbey: A New Era sequel Filming

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 Fool's Gold: The Story of the Brink's-Mat Robbery Det. Sgt. Benwell TV movie
The Bill Chris Bailey Episode "Radio Waves"
1995 The Glass Virgin Manuel Mendoza Mini-series
Dangerfield David Walsh 2 episodes
1996 Silent Witness Liam Slattery 2 episodes
Thief Takers DS Bob "Bingo" Tate 16 episodes
2000 McCready and Daughter Donal McCready TV movie
Paths to Freedom Jeremy Fitzgerald 6 episodes
2001 Conspiracy SS Maj Gen Heinrich Müller TV movie
Rebel Heart Michael Collins Miniseries
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries Richard Tey Episode "A Great Deliverance"
The Bombmaker George McEvoy TV movie
2002 Rockface Douglas McLanaghan 7 episodes
2003 Waking the Dead Martin Corgan 2 episodes
Single Paul
2004 Amnesia DC Ian Reid TV movie
Omagh DS John White
North & South Nicholas Higgins Miniseries
2005 Shameless Father Polish Episode 2.4
Jericho Christie 3 episodes
The Ghost Squad Sgt. Ralph Allan Episode "Heroes"
2006 The Commander: Blacklight Carl Dirkwood TV movie
Soundproof DI Dave Cox
Prime Suspect: The Final Act DCS Mitchell
Perfect Parents Ed
2007 The Mark of Cain Davey Gulliver
Wedding Belles Priest TV movie
The Good Samaritan Lewis Farrell
Damage Aidan Cahill
True Dare Kiss Kaz Sweeney 6 episodes
2008–2010 Lark Rise to Candleford Robert Timmins Series 1–3;
31 episodes
2009 Inspector George Gently Patrick Donovan Episode "Gently in the Night"
2009 Blue Murder Derek Jowell 2 episodes
2010–2015 Downton Abbey John Bates TV series (52 episodes)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Nominated – BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2012)
2012–2013 Starlings Terry Starling
2015 Spotless Nelson Clay
2015 Murdoch Mysteries Mr. Rankin Episode "A Merry Murdoch Christmas"
2016 12 Monkeys Dr. Benjamin Kalman Episode "Year of the Monkey")
2018 Requiem Stephen Kendrick 6 episodes
2022 Riches Gideon Havelock
2024 Finders Keepers[8] Denys Elland
TBA Toxic Town TBA 4 episodes[9]

Anderson Shelter Productions

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In July 2014, Brendan Coyle and Joy Harrison formed Anderson Shelter Productions Limited[10] with the mission to "find talented young filmmakers" and assist in funding their short film projects.[11] On 14 September 2014, Coyle announced via Twitter his involvement with Council Child Production's short film, Starcross.[12]

# Title Release date Notes Refs.
1 Starcross (short film, Council Child Productions) 2014 Associate Producer [13]
2 The Loneliest Time (short film, Time Bomb Pictures Ltd.) 2015 Associate Producer [14][15]
3 Bare (short film, Council Child Productions) 2016 Executive Producer [16][17]
3 Margie's Garden (short film, Council Child Productions) 2016 Executive Producer [18][19]
4 Emerald City (feature film, Colin Broderick) 2016 Associate Producer [20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Paddock, Terri (16 January 2006). "20 Questions With…Brendan Coyle". Retrieved 31 January 2011.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Masterson, Conor (23 September 2018). "Theatre defined, shaped and saved my life – Brendan Coyle". Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Olivier Winners 1999". Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b "True Dare Kiss: Brendan Coyle interview" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 18 June 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Downton Abbey characters at PBS". PBS. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  6. ^ Downton Abbey star aims to revamp his Norfolk home Retrieved 20/4/21.
  7. ^ "Stars talk Starlings". Sky Sports. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Finders Keepers". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  9. ^ "'Toxic Town': Netflix Greenlights Jack Thorne-Penned Corby Poisonings Series Starring Aimee Lou Wood, Jodie Whittaker, Robert Carlyle". www.deadline.com. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Anderson Shelter Productions Limited". Endole UK Company Insights. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Brendan Coyle: Farewell Downton Abbey, Hello Spotless and More!". Parade. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Brendan Coyle on Twitter (14 September 2014)". Twitter. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Starcross". British Films Directory. British Council. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  14. ^ "The Loneliest Time Kickstarter". Kickstarter. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  15. ^ "Brendan Coyle on Twitter (20 May 2015)". Twitter. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  16. ^ "Bare (2016) – Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Bare – Our Supporters". Margie's Garden. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  18. ^ "Margie's Garden (2016) – Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  19. ^ "Margie's Garden – Thank you to our backers!". Margie's Garden. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  20. ^ "Hollywood Shows Its Support for Emerald City". Kickstarter. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
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