Gray O'Brien
Encyclopedia
Gray O'Brien is a Scottish
television and film actor, best known for his portrayal of the villainous Weatherfield
businessman Tony Gordon
in the popular British soap opera
Coronation Street
from 2007 to 2010, and as Dr Richard McCaig on Casualty
from 1996 to 1998.
O'Brien was born in Stewarton
, Ayrshire, the 2nd youngest of seven children, and is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Resident for a time in Cumbernauld
, he has appeared in many television productions, including Taggart
, Peak Practice
, River City
(as serial womaniser Billy Davies), and the 2007 Doctor Who
Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned
". He played Prince Charles's valet in the motion picture The Queen
.
O'Brien joined the cast of Coronation Street as the murderous factory boss in September 2007. The actor explained in an interview that he uses sense-memory technique, drawing on "something dark from the past", to emote his powerful performances. Asked about female reaction to his character's on-screen conspiracy to murder love rival Liam Connor
, played by pin-up Rob James-Collier
, O'Brien joked: "I'm sure most viewers believe that it's just a story." O'Brien won Villain of the Year for the role at the 2009 British Soap Awards
.
The Manchester
show drew the ire of football fans when, in October 2008, several months after the 2008 UEFA Cup Final riots
, in a scripted line, O'Brien's evil character made a jibe about Rangers F.C.
. Complaints led to a similar line being cut from the script of a later episode. Professing surprise at the outcry, the star said: "I'm a Celtic
supporter but I need to be clear that I certainly wasn't going out of my way to antagonise any Rangers supporters."
In May 2009 Coronation Street producers announced that O'Brien's contract with the show had been extended to 2010.
He played Abanazar in the pantomime Aladdin
at the Opera House
, Manchester
from 5 December 2009 to 3 January 2010.
O'Brien was judged Scotland
's eleventh most eligible man in February 2009 by a Scotland on Sunday
panel. He once said: "I actually find the heartthrob thing laughable," adding: "I am just a jobbing actor from Scotland and I don't think of myself as particularly good looking."
appearance on the cobbles in one episode. O'Brien's late father Eddie was also a fan of the long-running show. O'Brien began dating make-up artist Jill Farimond in 2008, but it was reported in April 2009 that the couple had amicably split. His father died of a heart attack.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
television and film actor, best known for his portrayal of the villainous Weatherfield
Weatherfield
Weatherfield is a fictional town, based on Salford in North West England, which serves as the setting for the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street...
businessman Tony Gordon
Tony Gordon
Anthony "Tony" Gordon was a fictional character in the itv soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by actor Gray O'Brien. The character first appeared on screen on 16 September 2007 and making his final appearance on 9 June 2010 after deciding to sacrifice himself in the Underworld fire. He is a...
in the popular British soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
from 2007 to 2010, and as Dr Richard McCaig on Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
from 1996 to 1998.
O'Brien was born in Stewarton
Stewarton
Stewarton is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In comparison to the neighbouring towns of Kilmaurs, Fenwick, Dunlop and Lugton, it is a relatively large town, with a population of over 6,500. It is 300 feet above sea level.Groome, Francis H. . Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Pub. Caxton. London....
, Ayrshire, the 2nd youngest of seven children, and is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Resident for a time in Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld is a Scottish new town in North Lanarkshire. It was created in 1956 as a population overspill for Glasgow City. It is the eighth most populous settlement in Scotland and the largest in North Lanarkshire...
, he has appeared in many television productions, including Taggart
Taggart
Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...
, Peak Practice
Peak Practice
Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time...
, River City
River City
River City is a Scottish television soap opera, first broadcast in Scotland on BBC Scotland on 24 September 2002. River City storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch in Glasgow...
(as serial womaniser Billy Davies), and the 2007 Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
"Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005...
". He played Prince Charles's valet in the motion picture The Queen
The Queen (film)
The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
.
O'Brien joined the cast of Coronation Street as the murderous factory boss in September 2007. The actor explained in an interview that he uses sense-memory technique, drawing on "something dark from the past", to emote his powerful performances. Asked about female reaction to his character's on-screen conspiracy to murder love rival Liam Connor
Liam Connor
Liam Barrington Connor is a fictional character from the British ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street, played by Rob James-Collier from 2006 to 2008.-Creation:...
, played by pin-up Rob James-Collier
Rob James-Collier
Robert James-Collier is a British actor and model. He is known for his roles as Liam Connor in Coronation Street and as Thomas on Downton Abbey.- Background :James-Collier was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester...
, O'Brien joked: "I'm sure most viewers believe that it's just a story." O'Brien won Villain of the Year for the role at the 2009 British Soap Awards
British Soap Awards
The British Soap Awards is an annual awards ceremony to honour the best of British soap operas.The first event took place in 1999 and takes place in May each year. Although it is an ITV production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre, in London until 2010. The 2011 awards relocated to...
.
The Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
show drew the ire of football fans when, in October 2008, several months after the 2008 UEFA Cup Final riots
2008 UEFA Cup Final riots
The 2008 UEFA Cup Final riots, also known as the Battle of Piccadilly, was a serious public disorder incident that took place in the city of Manchester, England, before, during and after the 2008 UEFA Cup Final....
, in a scripted line, O'Brien's evil character made a jibe about Rangers F.C.
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
. Complaints led to a similar line being cut from the script of a later episode. Professing surprise at the outcry, the star said: "I'm a Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
supporter but I need to be clear that I certainly wasn't going out of my way to antagonise any Rangers supporters."
In May 2009 Coronation Street producers announced that O'Brien's contract with the show had been extended to 2010.
He played Abanazar in the pantomime Aladdin
Aladdin (musical)
Aladdin, is a musical/pantomime written by Sandy Wilson for the inaugural Christmas Pantomime at the newly refurbished Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith...
at the Opera House
Manchester Opera House
The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England is a 1,920 seater commercial touring theatre which plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is the sister to the Palace Theatre which is a similar venue in nearby Oxford Street at its junction with Whitworth...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
from 5 December 2009 to 3 January 2010.
O'Brien was judged Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
's eleventh most eligible man in February 2009 by a Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
panel. He once said: "I actually find the heartthrob thing laughable," adding: "I am just a jobbing actor from Scotland and I don't think of myself as particularly good looking."
Personal life
Gray O'Brien is divorced from his wife Lynn, whom he married on 9 May 1996. They have a son together called Conor (b.2000), who made a cameoCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
appearance on the cobbles in one episode. O'Brien's late father Eddie was also a fan of the long-running show. O'Brien began dating make-up artist Jill Farimond in 2008, but it was reported in April 2009 that the couple had amicably split. His father died of a heart attack.
Films
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Queen The Queen (film) The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II... |
Charles' Valet | |
TV
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Taggart Taggart Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network... |
DC Rob Gibson | Recurring; 5 episodes (1993–95) |
| 1996 | Casualty Casualty (TV series) Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The... |
Richard McCaig | Series regular (1996–98) |
| 2000 | Peak Practice Peak Practice Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time... |
Dr. Tom Deneley | Series regular (2000–02) |
| 2002 | Cruise of the Gods Cruise of the Gods Cruise of the Gods was a one-off comedy/drama produced by Baby Cow Productions for the BBC. It starred Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, David Walliams and James Corden... |
Casualty Doctor | |
| 2006 | River City River City River City is a Scottish television soap opera, first broadcast in Scotland on BBC Scotland on 24 September 2002. River City storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch in Glasgow... |
Billy Davies | Series regular |
| 2007 | Coronation Street Coronation Street Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960... |
Tony Gordon Tony Gordon Anthony "Tony" Gordon was a fictional character in the itv soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by actor Gray O'Brien. The character first appeared on screen on 16 September 2007 and making his final appearance on 9 June 2010 after deciding to sacrifice himself in the Underworld fire. He is a... |
Series regular (2007–09, 2010) |
| Doctor Who Doctor Who Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior... |
Rickston Slade | 1 episode: Voyage of the Damned Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who) "Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005... |
|