Maureen Toal (7 September 1930 – 24 August 2012) was an Irish stage and television actress whose professional career lasted for more than sixty years.
She was born in 1930 and was originally from Fairview, Dublin. Toal began performing at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1946, when she was just sixteen years old. She became a fixture at the theatre, portraying Bessie Burgess in The Plough and the Stars and the Widow Quinn in The Playboy of the Western World. She also appeared in several one woman shows, including Baglady, which was written by Irish playwright Frank McGuinness.
Another playwright, John B. Keane, wrote the role of Mame Fadden in his play, The Change in Mame Fadden, specifically for Toal. Hugh Leonard also penned characters in his plays A life and Great Big Blonde with the intention of casting Toal in the parts. Toal was best known to Irish television audiences for her role as Teasy McDaid on RTÉ One's Glenroe during the 1990s.
Honours The University College Dublin awarded Toal an honorary doctorate in literature in 2010.
Personal life In 1952, she married fellow Irish actor Milo O'Shea; they divorced in 1974
Death Maureen Toal died in her sleep at her home in Sandycove, Dublin, on 24 August 2012, two weeks before her 82nd birthday. She was survived by her son, Colm O'Shea; two sisters, one brother, and three grandchildren.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1958 Rooney Kathleen O'Flynn 1961 Only the Wind Mrs. Collins 1962 A Guy Called Caesar Lena 1963 Maigret (TV series) Adele Noirhomme Episode: - "The Log of the Cap Fagnet" 1964 Fire Crackers Rosie 2 episodes1967 Ulysses Zoe Higgins 1969 Otley Landlady 1970 Paddy Clair Kearney 1978 On a Paving Stone Mounted 1984 Summer Lightning Dolly St.Leger 1996 Snakes and Ladders Rose
Partial playography
Bláithín agus an Mac Rí (1953) A Slipper for the Moon (1954) A Flea in Her Ear (1979) A Life (1979) Baglady (1985) Yerma (1987)
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