Pat Laffan

 

Pat Laffan’s career as an actor nearly didn’t get started when his mother wrote to Ernest Blythe, managing director of Dublin’s legendary Abbey Theatre, where he was serving his apprenticeship, asking him to sack her son so he would return to his "real job" in engineering.  But Blythe didn’t oblige, and Laffan was to become one of a group of actors, including Ray McNally, who made a crucial contribution to the development of Irish theatre during the 1960s and 1970s. He eventually became artistic director of the Peacock, resident director at the Gate, and a director of the Gaiety School of Acting.

 

Following his membership of the Abbey Theatre Company, he went on to become a Director of the Peacock Theatre and directed in the Gate Theatre. Notable productions include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for Noel Pearson at the Gaiety Theatre and Chekhov’s Three Sisters at the Gate Theatre.  His television acting credits include Ripper Street (BBC), The Running Mate (TG4), The Clinic, Showbands, On Home Ground, Strumpet City, Eastenders, The Governor, Sharpe’s Rifles, Father Ted and Random Passage.   Films include The Queen, Intermission, How Harry Became a Tree, Country, The Serpent’s Kiss, The Closer You Get, The Saint, Durango, The Snapper, The General, Barry Lyndon and War Horse.