Denys Hawthorne

Denys Hawthorne was a Northern Irish actor who worked across theater, film, television and radio. Born in Portadown, County Armagh, he studied law at Queen's University Belfast before joining the Ulster Group Theatre. He succeeded at the Royal Court Theatre as the Old Man in The Chairs in 1957, then played Stephen Dedalus in Bloomsday at the Unity Theatre in 1960. He became part of the BBC radio drama repertory company and in 1972 took over as producer of BBC Northern Ireland radio drama for 18 months. On television he appeared in Dr. Finlay's Casebook, 46 episodes of Within These Walls (1974 to 1978), Grange Hill (1978), Doctor Who adventure called Trial of a Time Lord (1986), Capital City (1989 to 1990), Dangerfield (1995) and the Father Ted episode Tentacles of Doom (1996). His films included The Russia House (1990), In the Name of the Father (1993) and Emma (1996), in which he played Mr Woodhouse. He died in 2009.