Gabriel Byrne

Actor, writer, producer. Born December 5, 1950 in Dublin, Ireland. The eldest of six children, Gabriel Byrne was born to a poor Dublin nurse and a barrel maker. At age 12 he moved to England to become a priest, but was expelled for smoking. He studied archaeology at University College Dublin and then switched gears once more to become a teacher at an all-girls school. After one of his students asked him to start a drama club, Byrne became interested in acting.Gabriel Byrne joined Dublin''s prestigious Abbey Theatre and made a name for himself in the Irish soap operas The Riordans and Bracken.

After moving to America, he starred in two 1985 television miniseries, Christopher Columbus and Mussolini: the Untold Story. He made appearances in such films as Excalibur and Siesta before starring in The Coen Brothers'' Miller''s Crossing. The hit film made his name in Hollywood, and Byrne made several successful films throughout the 1990s, including Little Women, The Usual Suspects, The Man In The Iron Mask and End of Days. More recently, he skillfully portrayed the privileged Marques of Steyne opposite Reese Witherspoon's ambitious Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair. Gabriel Byrne has also produced several films, most notably In The Name of the Father, which was nominated for five Academy Awards.

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