Tom Murphy

Who was Tom Murphy?

Tom Jordan Murphy was an Irish theatre and film actor best known for his 1998 Tony Award winning performance in The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

In 1996, Murphy created the role of Ray Dooley in The Beauty Queen of Leenane. This production started life at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, directed by Garry Hynes and presented in association with the Druid Theatre Company. It also played at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre and in London's West End. In 1998, the play transferred to off-Broadway and later made its Broadway debut at the Walter Kerr Theater. Nominated for six Tony Awards in total, the production won four including the Best Featured Actor in a Play award for Murphy. New York Times theater critic, Ben Brantley, praised Murphy for his role in the play at the time, "Mr. Murphy offers comic relief without ever presenting it as such...His, more than any other character, must embody the provincial society beyond the women's home, and Ray's irritable restlessness is eloquent on the subject".

Murphy made his professional acting debut playing the Artful Dodger in Noel Pearson's production of Oliver! in 1980 aged 12.