Gabriel Byrne

Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken. He has now appeared in over 35 feature films, including Excalibur (1981), Miller's Crossing (1990), The Usual Suspects (1995), Stigmata (1999), End of Days (1999), Spider (2002), Jindabyne (2006), Vampire Academy (2014) and The 33 (2015), and co-wrote The Last of the High Kings (1996). Byrne has also produced several films, including the Academy Award–nominated In the Name of the Father (1993). One of Byrne's most identifiable roles is that of Dr. Paul Weston in the HBO drama In Treatment (2008–2011), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Satellite Awards. 2Early life Byrne was born in Walkinstown, Dublin, the eldest of six children raised by devoutly Roman Catholic parents -- a cooper and soldier, Dan, and a hospital nurse, Eileen (née Gannon) from Elphin, County Roscommon. He has four siblings: Donal, Thomas, Breda, and Margaret; another, Marian, died at an early age. He attended Ardscoil Éanna in Crumlin, where he later taught Spanish and Histor