Derrick O'Connor (3 January 1941 – 29 June 2018) was an Irish actor, who worked extensively in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Early life and education O'Connor was born in Dublin in 1941, and raised there and in London, England. He trained at the East 15 Acting School in Essex.
Career
Theatre O'Connor first achieved prominence on stage in Edinburgh, thanks to his work with the Traverse Theatre and the Royal Lyceum Theatre. He starred in avant-garde plays by the likes of Stanley Eveling and Megan Terry. Under director Richard Eyre, he starred in productions of The Taming of the Shrew, The Caretaker, and Oh, What a Lovely War!. In London, he starred in The Merry-Go-Round at the Royal Court Theatre. He also starred in Moby-Dick (directed by Keith Johnstone), in Blood Sports opposite Simon Callow, and in Born Yesterday at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. He also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
After moving to the United States, O'Connor directed and produced plays in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Film and television O'Connor was best known for his performance as South African mercenary Pieter Vorstedt in Lethal Weapon 2 and for his roles in three Terry Gilliam films. He also appeared as Jack Stone in the British police drama series The Professionals in the episode "You'll be Alright". Another role was that of Peter Morgan in the series Crown Court (1976). In 1980, he appeared as Ray Fox in the Thames TV series Fox.
Gilliam, who directed O'Connor in three films, had noted in his audio commentaries that O'Connor seemed to have a habit of relinquishing most of his dialogue in favour of physical character humour. Notable examples include Time Bandits, in which his character's dialogue was resorted to simple grunts while the Maid Marian character "translated" for him and in Brazil, in which O'Connor scrapped all of his character's dialogue and simply repeated the dialogue of Bob Hoskins' character.
In 1986, the BBC Scotland play Four of One by Gawn Grainger starred O'Connor along with Mark McManus, Derek Newark and Trevor Ray.
Personal life O'Connor married Mimi Suzanne Ploss in 1990. They had a son, Max, a filmmaker.
Death O'Connor died from pneumonia in Santa Barbara, on 29 June 2018, at the age of 77.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1971 The Blood on Satan's Claw Member of Mob Chasing Margaret Uncredited1973 The Final Programme Frank 1974 Butley Irishman in pub Uncredited1977 Jabberwocky Flying Hogfish Peasant 1978 Sweeney 2 Llewelyn 1978 On a Paving Stone Mounted 1980 Fox Ray Fox TV series1980 Bloody Kids Detective Ritchie TV movie1980 Hawk the Slayer Ralf 1981 Time Bandits Robber Leader 1982 The Bell Noel Spens TV series1982 The Missionary Gym Trainer 1984 Pope John Paul II Swiacki TV movie1985 Brazil Dowser 1987 Hope and Glory Mac 1989 Lethal Weapon 2 Pieter Vorstedt 1989 Dealers Robby Barrell 1993 Stark Zimmerman TV mini-series, 3 episodes1994 Felidae Mendel (English dub)1995 Ghosts Jack Rudkin Episode: " I'll Be Watching You"1995 How to Make an American Quilt Dean Reed 1998 Deep Rising Captain H.W. Atherton 1999 End of Days Thomas Aquinas 2003 Daredevil Father Everett 2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Very Old Man 2006 Unrest Walter Blackwell 2007 The Blue Hour Humphrey 2014 Man from Reno Stephen Luft 2016 Pushing Dead Sidewalk Salesman
Television + List of Derrick O'Connor television series credits Year 1978 Title OUT Role John pavey Notes 1982The ProfessionalsJack Stone Episode: "You'll Be All Right"1988StringerFrank BuchananLead role1996Tracey Takes On...Kay's Father Episode: "Death"2006MonkInspector St. ClareEpisode: "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward"2009EXIT Stage LeftAbe BaynorWeb series; 2 episodes
References
External links
(archived)