Maria Doyle Kennedy

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Maria Doyle Kennedy
Born Maria Josephine Doyle
Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland
Other names Maria Doyle
Occupation Actor
Singer
Years active 1980s–present (Singer)
1991–present (Actress)
Spouse(s) Kieran Kennedy (1988–present)
Website
www.mariadoylekennedy.com

Maria Doyle Kennedy (born 25 September 1964) is an award-winning and critically acclaimed actress, composer, singer, songwriter, musician, theatre artist, orchestrator and educator from Dublin, Ireland. As an actress she is probably best known for her roles as Queen Catherine of Aragon in the award winning The Tudors and as Mrs. Siobhan Sadler in the Space and BBC America original series Orphan Black.

Life and career

Early life

Kennedy was born in Clontarf, Dublin. She graduated from Trinity College, Dublin with a joint honours degree in political science and business.

Musical career

In 2001, Kennedy released music on Mermaid Records, a label she founded herself. Her debut solo album Charm was released in 2001. She coordinated Sirens which is a compilation album of female artists and which was released in 2003. She released an album Skullcover consisting of cover versions in 2005, and Mütter in 2007. Kennedy’s new album with her husband Kieran is called The Storms Are On the Ocean. A collection of Appalachian standards dressed in darned gowns, its spiritual siblings are Plant's Band of Joy, PJ's White Chalk and Gillian Welch's stark daguerreotypes. Here are courtly tunes, murder ballads, child ballads and death fugues all backlit by Kieran Kennedy's acoustic guitar, banjo and piano. Both of her solo albums have been nominated for Meteor awards and her forthcoming project sees her teamed with U.S. country music legend John Prine, Damien Rice and Paul Brady. Sing was released September 2012 and reached no 4 in Irish charts.

Musical History

Kennedy joined a band while still in college in the mid-80s. They formed originally to enter a Slogadh competition (which they won), but music quickly became a motivating force in her life. She has spent the better part of 20 years performing live all over the world to audiences ranging from the many thousands who have enjoyed her show at festivals (Glastonbury, Oxegen, Cambridge Folk Festival etc.) to the more intimate theatre concerts.

Kennedy released her first album “When Justice Came” in 1989 with The Black Velvet Band. Recorded in Los Angeles in 1989, it reached No.4 on the Irish charts and is ranked among the best Irish albums of the late 1980s.[citation needed] She then united with producers Clive Langer and Allen Winstanley to record her second Black Velvet Band album, "King Of Myself", in 1992. Irish music magazine Hot Press later called her "The finest voice this country has ever produced."[citation needed]

The Lady Sings The Blues, a compilation album featuring Maria alongside Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Annie Lennox, followed and proved to be a best-selling album in 1994. It also established Kennedy in new markets throughout Europe, the US, and Japan. Touring Europe for the first time, she got rave reviews from The Guardian, The Times, and others.

Kennedy produced a documentary, Golden Boy, based on the life and work of Irish artist Patrick Scott and has appeared as a broadcaster on Irish television filling in for John Kelly on his Mystery Train show and for Tom Dunne on Pet Sounds.[1]

Kennedy also hosted an RTÉ musical series called Boarderline in the late 1980s.[2]

Acting career

Maria Doyle Kennedy played a key role in the 1991 film The Commitments. In 2007 and 2008, Maria played Queen Katherine of Aragon (King Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary I of England) on The Tudors.[3] She was rumoured to have returned as Katherine of Aragon in a dream sequence to The Tudors for the fourth and final season in mid 2010, and this was confirmed when the first promotional picture of the season showed Katherine (along with King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr) on the cover. Kennedy also appeared on Irish screens early in 2011 on TG4's Corp & Anam in her first Irish language acting role. Kennedy portrayed Sonya, a nanny to Dexter Morgan's son Harrison in the fifth season of Showtime's Dexter.[4] She joined the cast of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey, appearing as Vera Bates, estranged wife of the Earl of Grantham's valet.[5] In 2012 she also played a leading role in the ITV mini-series Titanic, and in 2013 co-starred in the Canadian TV series Orphan Black, airing on Space.

Personal life

In 1988, she married musician Kieran Kennedy, and they have four sons. Maria speaks fluent Irish Gaelic.

Discography

Year Album Label Notes
2012 Sing Mermaid Records
2011 The Storms Are On The Ocean Mermaid Records
2009 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Mermaid Records
2009 Band of Maria’s Live DVD Mermaid Records
2008 Forty days Mermaid Records
2007 Fuckability Mermaid Records
2007 Mütter Mermaid Records
2005 Skull Cover Mermaid Records
2004 Sirens Mermaid Records
2001 Charm Mermaid Records
2001 Stars Above Mermaid Records

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Commitments, TheThe Commitments Natalie Murphy
1995 Nothing Personal Ann
1996 Moll Flanders Alice
1997 Break, TheThe Break Roisin
1997 MatchMaker, TheThe MatchMaker Sarah Kelly
1998 General, TheThe General Frances
1999 I Could Read in the Sky Maggie
1999 Gregory's Two Girls Bel
1999 Miss Julie Christine
2001 J.J. Biker
2003 Mystics Foxy
2004 Spin the Bottle Anastasia
2005 Tara Road Rosemary
2010 (She Owns) Every Thing Object of Affection Short film
2011 Albert Nobbs Mary
2012 After the Triumph of Your Birth Sister Roisin
2012 Byzantium Morag
2013 A Thousand Times Good Night

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Father Ted Patsy Episode: "Night of the Nearly Dead"
1999 DDU: District Detective Unit Emma Pearson Episodes: "The Gates of Eden: Part 1", "Unforgiven: Part 2"
1999 Oliver Twist Irish Shop Assistant Episode: "Wherein It Is Shewn How Oliver Twist Came to Be Born in Such Sad Circumstances"
1999 Queer as Folk Marie Threepwood Episodes: "1.5", "1.6"
2000 Queer as Folk Marie Jones Episode: "2.1"
2000 Fitz, TheThe Fitz Rita Episode: "Dirty Book Deal"
2002 No Tears Kitty Fogarty TV miniseries
2002 Home for Christmas Cora Quirke TV film
2003 Thursday the 12th Nina Bannister TV film
2006 Hide & Seek Emma Holden Recurring role (4 episodes)
2006 Sorted Roisin Recurring role (6 episodes)
2007-2010 Tudors, TheThe Tudors Queen Catherine of Aragon Main role (18 episodes)
2010 Dexter Sonya Recurring role (8 episodes)
2011 Corp & Anam Mairéad Mhic Iarnáin Recurring role (4 episodes)
2011 Downton Abbey Vera Bates Episodes: "2.1", "2.5", "2.6"
2012 Titanic Muriel Batley TV miniseries
2013 Orphan Black Mrs. S Regular role (10 episodes)

Awards and nominations

  • In 2003, Maria Doyle Kennedy was nominated for the IFTA award.
  • In 2008, Maria Doyle Kennedy won both the Gemini award and the IFTA award.
  • In 2009, Maria Doyle Kennedy won the IFTA award.

References

  1. ↑ Maria Doyle Kennedy at The Headline Agency
  2. ↑ "Boarderline". RTÉ News. 
  3. ↑ Maria Doyle Kennedy Joins 'Dexter' Season
  4. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (June 10, 2010). "Maria Doyle Kennedy Joins ‘Dexter’ Season". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 29, 2011. 
  5. ↑ Blackburn, Jen (September 23, 2011). "I love playing the most hated woman in Britain". The Sun (London). Retrieved October 29, 2011. 

External links

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