Background:

Spending a decade as a high school teacher, Brendan Gleeson decided to become an actor at age 34 and got his first big break as Hamish Campbell, Mel Gibson's William Wallace's hulking sidekick, in the Academy Award-winning historical epic, "Braveheart" (1995). Since then, he has earned an increasing amount of acclaim for his work in a variety of films, most notably as Bunny Kelly, a dimwitted, low-level criminal, in Paddy Breathnach-directed Irish comedy crime film, "I Went Down" (1997), and as Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, in John Boorman's biopic, "The General" (1998).

The Irish actor who made his big screen debut with a bit part in Jim Sheridan’s adaptation of John B. Keane's play, ''The Field'' (1990), has acted in more than 30 films, including "Michael Collins" (1996), "Turbulence" (1997), "Mission: Impossible II" (2000), "The Tailor of Panama" (2001), "Artificial Intelligence: AI" (2001), "28 Days Later..." (2002), "Gangs of New York" (2002), "Cold Mountain" (2003), "Troy" (2004), "The Village" (2004), "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), "Breakfast on Pluto" (2005) and "Beowulf" (2007).

Gleeson portrayed Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Mood, a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, in two Harry Potter films: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005) and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007). He will next be seen as a hitman opposite Colin Farrell in "In Bruges" and as the former British prime minister in Thaddeus O'Sullivan-directed historical drama, "Churchill at War."

On a more personal note, the burly redhead versatile player has been married since 1982 and has four sons. He currently lives in Malahide County, Dublin with his family.

Ireland Home

Childhood and Family:

In Dublin, Ireland, Brendan Gleeson was born on March 29, 1955. An avid reader as a child, especially classical text, Gleeson took great attention to Irish play writers such as Samual Beckett, which eventually led to him performing in his high school play production of ''Waiting for Godot.'' After finishing 12th grade, he spent a couple of years with the Dublin Shakespeare Festival, he headed across to London and auditioned for drama schools and was accepted at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

After RADA, he returned home to Dublin, continued with theatre, and studied Gaelic and English at the University College, Dublin, Ireland. He then worked for several years as a secondary level teacher, specifically in English and Drama, in Belcamp College, in North County Dublin. He also taught Maths at St. Joseph's Secondary school in Fairview, Dublin.

Gleeson is also a very talented fiddle player, with an interest in folklore, and can be seen playing it in the films ''Michael Collins'' (1996) and ''Cold Mountain'' (2003). He is good friends with fellow Irish actors Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea and Cillian Murphy.

Gleeson lives in Malahide, County, Dublin, alongside his wife, Mary, whom he married in 1982. They have four sons: Domhnall, Fergus, Brían and Ruari.

The General

Career:

A schoolteacher for almost 10 years while acting in semi-professional and professional productions, RADA graduate Brendan Gleeson participated in the Dublin Shakespeare Theatre Festival during mid-eighties. In the late eighties, he was invited to audition for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford Upon Avon, England, where he stayed for two seasons and was credited in such productions as ''King Lear'' and ''King Richard II.''

At the age of 35, Gleeson decided to audition for films in the UK and began to develop a very respectable resume for playing many different diverse characters. After appearing in the made-for TV movies "Dear Sarah" (1989) and "Hard Shoulder" (1990), he made his feature film acting debut in the small role of a Quarryman in Jim Sheridan's adaptation of John B. Keane's play, "The Field" (1990), starring Richard Harris.

The Irish actor followed it up with roles in films like Mike Newell's Irish fable "Into the West" (1992; starring Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin) and Ron Howard's Irish drama movie "Far and Away" (1992; starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise).

Meanwhile, Gleeson continued working on television, appearing in the TV movies "Saint Oscar" (1991), "The Treaty" (1991), "The Snapper" (1993), "Love Lies Bleeding" (1993), and the TNT adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, "Kidnapped" (1995; starring Armand Assante). He also starred as a Welsh lifeboat crew in the short-lived seaside drama series called "The Lifeboat" (1994).

In 1995, Gleeson got his big break when he was cast as Hamish Campbell, the childhood friend of Mel Gibson's William Wallace and lieutenant in his army who is often short-sighted and thinks with his fists, in the Academy Award-winning historical epic, "Braveheart."

Since then, Gleeson continued to bring his huge stage presence to the screen, in the following year's films "Michael Collins" (1996; starring Liam Neeson), an Academy Award-nominated biopic about the Irish leader written and directed by Neil Jordan in which he portrayed Liam Tobin, an officer in the Irish Army who had been an intelligence gatherer for Michael Collins' Squad, and "Trojan Eddie" (1996; starring Stephen Rea), an independent romantic crime/drama by Gillies MacKinnon.

He also could be seen in Robert Butler's action/thriller "Turbulence" (1997) as a transporting prisoner alongside Ray Liotta, Neil Jordan's film version of Pat McCabe's Irish novel, "The Butcher Boy" (1997), as Father Bubbles, and Robert Dornhelm's Irish thriller starring Stephen Rea, "A Further Gesture" (1997; aka "The Break").

Gleeson was nominated an IFTA (Irish Film and Television Awards) for Best Actor in a Male Role and won BSFC (Boston Society of Film Critics) for Best Actor for his solid performance as Bunny Kelly, a half-wit and heavy handed henchman, in Paddy Breathnach-directed Irish comedy crime film, "I Went Down" (1997).

His star shone brighter in the next year when he portrayed the title role of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill in John Boorman's biopic "The General" (1998), a role which won him IFTA (Irish Film and Television Awards) Best Actor in a Male Role, ALFS Award British Actor of the Year, and BSFC (Boston Society of Film Critics) Best Actor. He was also nominated a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Entering the new millennium, Gleeson co-starred with Brian Cox and Peter McDonald in McPherson's "Salt Water," adapted from McPherson's play "This Lime Tree Bower," and had featured role in "Mission: Impossible II," starring Tom Cruise. He also played the title role of sleazy Northern Irish TV chef who emerges from a coma thinking he's 18-years-old, in Declan Lowney's romantic drama comedy "Wild About Harry," which earned him an IFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Feature Film.

Gleeson subsequently co-starred in Steven Spielberg's Academy Award-nominated science fiction film, "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" (2001; starring Haley Joel Osment), in which he portrayed Lord Johnson-Johnson, and reteamed with ''The General'' director Boorman in his spy film, "The Tailor of Panama" (2001; with Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis), playing Michelangelo 'Mickie' Abraxas, a drunken revolutionary.

He was also cast as Walter 'Monk' McGinn, a barber who worked as a mercenary for Priest Vallon (played by Liam Neeson) in the battle, in Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-nominated historical drama loosely inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 book, "Gangs of New York" (2002; with Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz), and appeared as a survivor named Frank in director Danny Boyle's critical and commercial successful post-apocalyptic zombie thriller, "28 Days Later" (2002; alongside Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris).

In 2003, director Anthony Minghella cast Gleeson as Stobrod Thewes, the deadbeat father of Renée Zellweger's Ruby and a Confederate deserter, in his Academy Award-winning adaptation of Charles Frazier's 1997 historical fiction novel, "Cold Mountain" (also starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman), and played Jack Van Meter, a corrupt police official, in Ron Shelton's Los Angeles cop drama, "Dark Blue," alongside Kurt Russell.

He then was cast as Spartan king Menelaus in director Wolfgang Petersen's Academy Award-nominated epic, "Troy" (2004; starring Brad Pitt), and starred as August Nicholson in writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's box office hit mystery/thriller, "The Village" (2004), with Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix and Adrien Brody.

Gleeson was cast opposite Orlando Bloom in Ridley Scott's 2005 epic "Kingdom of Heaven" before playing a hard-drinking Irish emigrant opposite Cillian Murphy in Neil Jordan's Golden Globe-nominated adaptation of Patrick McCabe's 1998 novel, "Breakfast on Pluto" (2005). That same year, he also portrayed Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Mood, a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," adapted from the fourth book in the fantasy series by J.K. Rowling and directed by Mike Newell. He later reprised the role in the sequel ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2007), and presumably in any subsequent ''Harry Potter'' films.

Meanwhile, Gleeson was nominated an IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role in a Feature Film for his turn as a volatile soccer coach takes on a team with a year-long losing streak in Paul Mercier's ''Studs'' (2006), and played an alcoholic, emotionally remote father to Michael Angarano, in writer/director Brad Gann's coming-of-age family/drama "Black Irish," which made its debut at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October 2006.

Most recently, he could be seen as Beowulf's fierce sidekick Wiglaf in Robert Zemeckis' animated epic film adapted from the Old English heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship, "Beowulf" (2007), alongside Ray Winstone, includes Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn and Angelina Jolie.

Gleeson has wrapped his upcoming film, "In Bruges," a drama/comedy by writer/director Martin McDonagh in which he teams up with Colin Farrell as two hitmen. He will soon complete a historical drama film directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, "Churchill at War," in which he portrays the title role of the former British prime minister.

Awards:

• IFTA (Irish Film and Television Awards): Best Actor in a Male Role, "The General," 1999

• London Critics Circle Film: ALFS Award--British Actor of the Year, "The General," 1999

• BSFC (Boston Society of Film Critics): Best Actor, "The General," 1998

• BSFC (Boston Society of Film Critics): Best Actor, "I Went Down," 1998