Niall Padden

Born in Ireland, educated in England, Niáll Padden has been a Resident in California for more than 30 years. Upon graduating High School, Niáll attended the Leeds College of Art. He subsequently trained, worked and toured extensively in Stage Management, including on live Television for the BBC's "Good Old Days" from the world-famous City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds as well as The Leeds Playhouse. His work in Stage Management included: Skegness (Embassy Theatre), Margate (Queens Theatre), "Godspell" Touring Company (U.K.), The Mermaid Theatre (London). It was while stage-managing a revival of the production "Say Goodnight to Grandma" at the Leeds Playhouse, he met the writer and star of the play, Colin Welland (Academy Award Winner Best Original Screenplay "Chariots Of Fire"), who created a role for him in a 6 part B.B.C. TV Series "The Wild West Show". Niáll and Colin Welland immediately went on to co-star together in an acclaimed B.B.C. "Play For Today" film "A Passage to England" directed by John Mackenzie ("The Long Good Friday"). Among the notable film directors Niáll has worked with are; Mike Apted, Sir Richard Attenborough, Stephen Frears, Mike Newell, and Alan Parker. While working for Sir Richard Attenborough on the epic movie "A Bridge Too Far" in Holland, Sir Richard asked him to create and write a "Fictional" sequence for a "non-Fictional" character portrayed by Robert Redford. It is unknown as to why the Academy Award Winning writer, William Goldman, declined or did not write the sequence, which for one hour necessitated the closure of one of the world's busiest shipping routes, including the historic Nijmegen Road Bridge across the River Waal in Holland. In "movie lore" it subsequently became known as "The Million Dollar Hour". Among the notable actors Niáll has worked with on stage and screen include; Laurence Olivier, Dirk Bogarde, Helen Mirren, Wolfgang Preiss, Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Maximillian Schell, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Hardy Kruger, Ian McKellan, Robert Redford, and Liv Ulman. As an Actor/Member of the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company, Niáll worked extensively throughout Europe. While with the RSC in the United States, Niáll performed at Royce Hall (UCLA), The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In 2001, he founded "The International Theatre Festival and Fringe" and presented a stage production of "Their Finest Hour" starring Bill Hootkins and Bob Sherman. In 2005, he adapted as well as Produced, Directed and co-starred in a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra at the Sherr Forum Theater in Thousand Oaks. The production featured a live original orchestral score composed and conducted by Ray Colcord. In 2018, he founded Garage Bands 101 LLC to develop an annual International Festival to debut in the City of Thousand Oaks, in 2022. Niáll J. Padden was a single parent and lived in Westlake Village in California with his three children for more than 20 years. During that time, he was a principal founding member and co-producer of the now nationally recognized Kingsmen Shakespeare Company at the California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. In 2002 he Co-Founded the Shakespeare Educational Tour (S.E.T.) and co-developed and produced a school's curriculum in collaboration with the City of Thousand Oaks Arts Commission and the Conejo Valley Unified School District. He worked as a volunteer at the former L.A. County Juvenile Detention Center (Kilpatrick) for Fr. Greg Boyle SJ of Homeboy Industries. Niáll was a Basketball Coach for the Conejo Youth Basketball Association (CYBA), and as a Soccer Coach for the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO Region 9).