Colm Meaney
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Curly-haired Irish player Colm Meaney, perhaps best known to American audiences as Chief Engineer Miles O'Brien on the hit syndicated series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," has had a long and varied career in features, as both a scene-stealing supporting player and a charismatic lead. Determined to be an actor since age 13, Meaney spent some time in a fisherman training program after leaving high school, but soon began his career at the renowned Abbey Theatre, first as an student in its training program and later on the Dublin stage before moving to Great Britain where he joined 7:84, a leftist theater group. He traveled to the USA in 1982, settling in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan, and jetted back-and-forth between the New York and London stages. After four years of continent-hopping, Meaney and his then-wife actress Bairbre Dowling moved to Los Angeles, where he soon made his feature debut in the action thriller "Omega 7/Omega Syndrome" (1986). The following year would bring him back to Ireland for a role in "The Dead," John Huston's final film, an adaptation of James Joyce's short story. Meaney was initially cast in a recurring role of Engineer Miles O'Brien in the syndicated "Star Trek" spin-off "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (from 1987 to 1992), and was later upgraded to regular as Chief Engineer O'Brien, the most accessible and human character, on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (syndicated, 1993-99). While Meaney worked extensively in television during this time, even taking a supporting part in the 1994 CBS miniseries "Scarlett" in addition to his series role, his film career didn't slow down.
Meaney began his frequent work with Alan Parker on the World War II-era romance "Come See the Paradise" (1990). That same year, he was also featured in the cartoonish "Dick Tracy" and the action sequel "Die Hard 2: Die Harder." Meaney reteamed with Parker for "The Commitments" (1991), stealing scenes as the Elvis-worshipping father of the manager of a burgeoning soul band on Dublin's northside, in the first installment of novelist Roddy Doyle's acclaimed Barrytown trilogy. The following year Meaney co-starred in the turn-of-the-century tale of Irish immigrants settling America's west in "Far and Away" and had the featured role of Major Ambrose in Michael Mann's epic "The Last of the Mohicans." His next three films, however, were lensed in his native Ireland: "Into the West" (1992), "The Snapper" (1993) and "The War of the Buttons" (1994). While the latter was notable for pairing Meaney onscreen with his then-wife, it was "The Snapper," Stephen Frears' adaptation of the second novel in Roddy Doyle's trilogy that would provide a more memorable turn, as well as marking the actor's debut starring role--as Dessie Curley, a loud-mouthed blue collar man who proves a sensitive and caring father when faced with the unplanned pregnancy of his young unwed daughter. Physically imposing with a manner at once brusque and comically weary, Meaney turned in a masterful performance, making Dessie a sympathetic and delightful character.
A third teaming with Alan Parker as a rabid proponent of vegetarianism in 1994's "The Road to Wellville" was followed by turn as Morgan the Goat, a proud and crafty innkeeper who endeavors to protect the status of his Welsh village's beloved mountain, which English map surveyors designate as a hill in "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain." In 1996, after portraying a smarmy politician in the romance "Last of the High Kings" (released on video in the USA in 1998 as "Summer Fling"), Meaney took on the last installment of Doyle's Barrytown trilogy, reteaming with Frears for "The Van," joining Donal O'Kelly as unemployed men who go into business, selling fish and chips out of the titular vehicle. With a similar character to his previous Doyle efforts (the books followed the same characters throughout, but names were changed for the film versions), Meaney turned in another inspired and endearing performance In 1997, the actor conquered the big budget action genre with a role as a flashy and reactionary DEA agent who must be convinced by John Cusack's US Marshal Vince Larkin to not shoot down a hijacked aircraft full of dangerous prisoners and one parolee in "Con Air." Remaining in demand in 1998, he was featured in Ted Demme's crime drama "Monument Ave," starring Denis Leary and offered a delightful cameo as a fey bed and breakfast owner whose mother helps to solve a man's mysterious origins in Paul Quinn's "This is My Father" (released in the USA in 1999). Rounding out the year, Meaney starred as the menacing pimp Cain in "Claire Dolan," the story of a call girl (Katrin Cartlidge) who endeavors to start a new life with taxi driver Elton (Vincent D'Onofrio) and co-starred in the odd thriller "October 22," the charming children's film "Owd Bob" and the gangster drama "VIG" (which premiered on Cinemax).
In 1999, following the end of the seven-year run of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," Meaney returned to his theatrical roots, appearing Off-Broadway in "The Cider House Rules--Part One: Here in St Cloud's" as an ether-sniffing obstetrician. This marked his first New York engagement since his Broadway appearance in a small role in 1988's "Breaking the Code" starring Derek Jacobi. Meaney has not forsaken film roles, however, having accepted supporting parts in the David E Kelley-scripted "Mystery, Alaska," a look at a shrouded small town with a local hockey team that takes on the NHL's New York Rangers and in thriller "The Criminal" (lensed 1999), starring Steven Mackintosh. He also starred as the Head Leprechaun opposite Grand Banshee Whoopi Goldberg in the NBC fantasy miniseries "Leprechauns" (scheduled to air in November 1999).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1978
First television appearance, "Z-Cars" on BBC1
1981
Feature acting debut, "Nailed"
1981
Made his Broadway debut in "Nicholas Nickleby"
1986
Moved to Los Angeles, CA
1987
Cast as Engineer Miles O'Brien on the "Star Trek" spin-off "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (Syndicated)
1987
Played supporting role in John Huston's "The Dead"
1988
Featured on Broadway in "Breaking the Code"
1990
Landed bit parts in Warren Beatty's appropriately cartoonish "Dick Tracy" and the action sequel "Die Hard 2: Die Harder"
1990
First film with director Alan Parker, "Come See the Paradise"
1991
Re-teamed with Parker in "The Commitments," playing the colorful father of the band's manager; the first film in Doyle's Barrytown trilogy
1992
Featured in Ron Howard's period drama "Far and Away"
1993
Landed first lead role in "The Snapper," the second film in Doyle's Barrytown trilogy directed by Stephen Frears
1993
Joined the cast of the "Star Trek" spin-off series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"; reprised role of O'Brien
1994
Co-starred as a zealot vegetarian in "The Road to Wellville," Alan Parker's 1907-set satire of health fanaticism
1994
Appeared opposite then-wife Bairbre Dowling as parents of a leader of a children's gang in "The War of the Buttons"
1994
Played the title character's cousin in "Scarlett," the CBS miniseries sequel to "Gone With the Wind"
1995
Delivered memorable role as strong-willed innkeeper Morgan the Goat in "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain"
1996
Cast in featured role as a slick politician in "Last of the High Kings"
1996
Re-teamed with Frears for the third film in Doyle's Barrytown trilogy "The Van"
1997
Played a short-tempered DEA agent in "Con Air"
1998
Cast as a gangster who forces the title character into a life of prostitution in "Claire Dolan"
1999
Co-starred in the off-Broadway staging of "The Cider House Rules - Part One: Here in St. Cloud's"
1999
Played the mayor of a small-town in the David E. Kelley penned "Mystery Alaska"
1999
Delivered supporting turn as the fey operator of a bed & breakfast in "This Is My Father"
1999
Starred as the leader of the leprechauns in the NBC fantasy miniseries "The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns"
2001
Played the title role in the film "How Harry Became a Tree"
2002
Co-starred in the TNT movie "King of Texas," which reset Shakespeare's "King Lear" in the U.S.
2003
Starred in the musical comedy "The Boys and Girl from County Clare"
2004
Played recurring role of Cowen, leader of the Genii, on the Sci Fi Channel series "Stargate Atlantis"
2004
Co-starred with Colin Farrell in the drama "Intermission"
2004
Co-starred with Daniel Craig in the British gangster hit "Layer Cake," directed by Matthew Vaughn
2007
Starred in the Irish film "Kings"
2009
Played a detective in "Law Abiding Citizen" opposite Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx
2009
Portrayed the former Leeds manager Don Reviethe in the British film "The Damned United"
2010
Cast in the comedy feature "Get Him to the Greek"
2012
Co-starred with Robert Pattinson in the Parisian-set period drama "Bel Ami," based on the novel by Guy de Maupassant
Family
Companions
