Brendan O'Carroll

Irish actor and comedian

Brendan O'Carroll (born 17 September 1955) is an Irish actor, comedian, director, producer and writer. He is best known for portraying foul mouthed matriarch Agnes Brown on stage and in the BBC and RTÉ television sitcom Mrs. Brown's Boys. In 2015, O'Carroll was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Irish television.

The youngest of 11 children, O'Carroll was born in Finglas, Dublin on 17 September 1955. His mother, Maureen, was a Labour Party TD and his father, Gerard O'Carroll, was a carpenter. His father died in 1962 when O'Carroll was seven, and Brendan's mother raised their eleven children with little money. He attended Saint Gabriel's National School and left at the age of 12. He had a string of occupations; these included being a waiter and a milkman.

Having become well known as a comedy guest on The Late Late Show, O'Carroll released four stand up videos, titled How's your Raspberry Ripple, How's your Jolly Roger, How's your Snowballs and How's your Wibbly Wobbly Wonder. The film, which had Stephen Rea cast in the lead role, ran into financing difficulties midway through the shoot when the distributor withdrew and it was abandoned. Incurring debts of over €1 million, O'Carroll became bankrupt and the film has never been produced. O'Carroll presented a quiz show, called Hot Milk and Pepper, on RTÉ One, with long term collaborator Gerry Browne.

In 1992, O'Carroll performed a short radio play titled Mrs. Brown's Boys and shortly afterwards he wrote four books titled The Mammy, The Granny, The Chisellers and The Scrapper.

It was announced in January 2015 that the BBC wanted O'Carroll to do "other stuff", due to the fact that Mrs Brown's Boys had become so successful. He revealed plans to adapt his first ever written play, patser grey into a television sitcom.

O'Carroll was married to his first wife from 1977 to 1999. He married Jennifer Gibney in 2005. They live in Davenport, Florida. O'Carroll has three surviving children, including Fiona and Danny. He lost a son also called Brendan, their first child, shortly after birth in 1976. As an adult, O'Carroll was diagnosed with dyslexia, along with his sons Eric and Danny. O'Carroll's paternal grandfather Peter O'Carroll, a father of seven and a prominent republican, was shot dead on 16 October 1920 at his home in Manor Street, Dublin. Two of his sons were Irish Republican Army volunteers. The incident was investigated in the television series Who Do You Think You Are? In March 2016, O'Carroll appeared in the BBC2 documentary Brendan O'Carroll – My Family at War, which explored the involvement of three of his uncles—Liam, James and Peadar O'Carroll—in the Easter Rising.

Year Film Character(s) 1996 The Van Weslie 1999 Agnes Browne Seamus 1999 Angela's Ashes Man in pub 2002 Mrs Brown's Boys Agnes Brown 2003 Mrs Brown's Boys: The Last Wedding 2004 Mrs Brown's Boys: Believe it or not 2005 Good Mourning Mrs Brown 2006 Mrs Brown's Boys: Triple Trouble 2007 How Now Mrs. Brown 2008 Mrs Brown's Boys: The Seven Year Itch 2014 Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie Agnes Brown and Mr. Wang 2022 A Madea Homecoming Agnes Brown

Year Title Role 1996–1998 Brendan O'Carroll's Hot Milk and Pepper Host 2004 Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere Gypsy Joe 2009 The Fattest Man in Britain Fr O'Flaherty 2011–present Mrs. Brown's Boys Agnes Brown 2013 The Security Men Jimmy 2017–2020 All Round to Mrs. Brown's Agnes Brown 2018 For Facts Sake Host 2022 The Walk In Uncle Ronnie