Who is/was Ireland's most famous actor (excluding actresses for sake of clarity)?

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Duke of Marmalade

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I had a bit of row, I mean intellectual altercation, with the Duchess on this important subject. I was tossing up between Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson, just veering towards Pierce (James Bond and all that). She was adamant it was Colin Farrell. I protested that I hardly heard of the guy. Will AAM please resolve this intellectual stand-off; I will accept the majority verdict.
 
There's a list here of actors and actresses from the Irish Times.

Richard Harris deserves a mention.

Peter O'Toole under parentage rules but like Daniel Day Lewis we dont have sole claim.

I think Liam Neeson is more famous than Colin Farrell... Schindlers List, Taken in their own way have much bigger profiles than any of Colin Farrells films and means he has been famous for longer. Farrell has time ahead of him.

The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order

Is Jamie Dornan better than Donal McCann? Ruth Negga superior to Brenda Fricker?
www.irishtimes.com
 
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Outside of Ireland DDL is not as well known as Liam or Pierce. Also depends on the age group you're asking and whether it's just name recognition or face.

Can't forget Cillian Murphy.

I would say overall it's Liam.
 
Imdb puts Neeson and Murphy in their Top 100 'star meter' with Farrell and Brosnan in Top 500. Neeson would have had a higher profile for longer than any of the rest so longevity wins out for me.

When Brosnan was playing James Bond he would probably have been Top 100 at that point. Farrell may have been in there at times.
 
odyssey06 said:
There's a list here of actors and actresses from the Irish Times.
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Interesting list. It is entitled the “greatest” actors and DDL comes out on top. But we were discussing the most famous. I had heard of 19 in that list of 50 with my lowest rank being Ray McAnally at 34.
 
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Barry Fitzgerald, one Oscar and two other nominations. A clear win. He was really famous back in the day. Cilian Murphy had an Oscar, but no other nominations. DLL was born in London. Technically you could say he bested Barry Fitzgerald as he had taken out Irish citizenship, before winning his other two Oscars.
 
If it’s most famous then it’s Brosnan due to James Bond.

Bond movies are for people who don’t really watch movies and have a bigger global reach than almost any other genre.
 
Dr Strangelove said:
If it’s most famous then it’s Brosnan due to James Bond.
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I would still say Neeson.

Brosnan was Bond... James Bond.
But how famous was Brosnan himself and for how long ... outside of Bond, he has a small number of lead roles in major movies eg Thomas Crown Affair.

Neeson can still 'open' a major movie - he is the star of the upcoming Police Squad remake.
People notice a movie based on his name and that has been the case for several decades.

Richard Harris was in that space for a span of about 20 years also.

Murphy deservedly won an Oscar but Oppenheimer got funded based on Christopher Nolan's name.

I would put Neeson ahead of Fitzgerald also as he was typically more in character / supporting roles.

We will have to see where Paul Mescal goes with his career also.
 
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Duke of Marmalade said:
Interesting list. It is entitled the “greatest” actors and DDL comes out on top. But we were discussing the most famous. I had heard of 19 in that list of 50 with my lowest rank being Ray McAnally at 34.
Click to expand...

Some strange selections \ ranking alright. I didn't recognise a few of the names from the stage \ 1950s.

I'd have thought you'd know Donal McCann at #45 - he should be higher. A few names from the Commitments like Maria Doyle Kennedy.
In the 35-50 positions Jonathan Rhys Myers, Orla Brady, Susan Lynch, Robert Sheehan, Chris O'Dowd, Liam Cunningham probably more known for TV.
 
Where does Michael Gambon come into the list, he probably starred in the most succesful franchise (Harry Potter).

And in fairness, Eamonn Morrissy probably got a Government unelected in the 70s (Richie Ruin, probably one of the finest pieces of satire ever). That must count for something
 
Peanuts20 said:
Where does Michael Gambon come into the list, he probably starred in the most succesful franchise (Harry Potter).
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He was on the Irish Times list, not in the Top 10 iirc

Harry Potter had a big cast and to most of the (young) watchers they were watching "Dumbledore" (whether played by Richard Harris or Michael Gambon), rather than associating him with a particular named actor. I watched all the movies (as an adult) and I couldn't tell you who played the role in which films from memory!

There was The Singing Detective on TV.

His biggest successes in leading roles were on the stage, but the numbers there are a lot smaller than film audiences.
 
Colm Meaney perhaps - huge number of roles over the years...

Then there is Liam Cunningham - another high profile Irish actor.
 
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