Chris Curran (died 19 August 1996) was an Irish actor, singer and
musician.Born in Cork, Curran was four when he made his stage debut at
the Cork Opera House in Frank Benson's touring production of
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He went on to study acting
under Father Seamus O'Flynn at the Cork Shakespearean Company,
otherwise known as "The Loft". He continued to perform at the Cork
Opera House while studying engineering at University College Cork. In
1953, Curran joined the Radio Éireann Players, a repertory company
which performed in the station's weekly drama productions. A year
later, and at short notice, he took the lead role in a broadcast of
Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt which was produced by Tyrone Guthrie in his
first collaboration with Ireland's national radio station.For the next
four decades, Curran enjoyed a varied career as a stage and screen
actor, television narrator and pantomime performer. In the early
1960s, he provided voice-overs for all the characters in RTÉ
Television's puppet series for children, Murphy agus a Cháirde
("Murphy and his friends"). His last television appearances came in
1995 and 1996 when he portrayed Father Jim Johnson in two episodes of
Channel 4's sitcom Father Ted: "Competition Time" and "Cigarettes and
Alcohol and Rollerblading".Chris Curran was married to Josephine
Scanlon, a Limerick-born soprano, with whom he had two daughters. He
died in Leopardstown Park Hospital in Dublin ('in his early
seventies') and is buried at Shanganagh Cemetery in Shankill.
musician.Born in Cork, Curran was four when he made his stage debut at
the Cork Opera House in Frank Benson's touring production of
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He went on to study acting
under Father Seamus O'Flynn at the Cork Shakespearean Company,
otherwise known as "The Loft". He continued to perform at the Cork
Opera House while studying engineering at University College Cork. In
1953, Curran joined the Radio Éireann Players, a repertory company
which performed in the station's weekly drama productions. A year
later, and at short notice, he took the lead role in a broadcast of
Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt which was produced by Tyrone Guthrie in his
first collaboration with Ireland's national radio station.For the next
four decades, Curran enjoyed a varied career as a stage and screen
actor, television narrator and pantomime performer. In the early
1960s, he provided voice-overs for all the characters in RTÉ
Television's puppet series for children, Murphy agus a Cháirde
("Murphy and his friends"). His last television appearances came in
1995 and 1996 when he portrayed Father Jim Johnson in two episodes of
Channel 4's sitcom Father Ted: "Competition Time" and "Cigarettes and
Alcohol and Rollerblading".Chris Curran was married to Josephine
Scanlon, a Limerick-born soprano, with whom he had two daughters. He
died in Leopardstown Park Hospital in Dublin ('in his early
seventies') and is buried at Shanganagh Cemetery in Shankill.
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