Angeline Ball

Angeline Ball is an Irish actress who currently resides in London, England. She is a trained dancer in ballet, tap and modern dance. Her breakthrough role came in 1991 when she starred as backing singer Imelda Quirke in Alan Parker's The Commitments. Since then she has appeared in various films and television series both in Ireland and in America. Most notably, she played Vada's mother in My Girl 2 for which she sang a rendition of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile". She worked with Alan Parker again when she sang backing vocals for the Evita soundtrack album. Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement wrote the short-lived 1993 TV series Over the Rainbow for her. She also wrote all the music for Over the Rainbow.

In 2003 Ball swept the board at the IFTA (Irish Film And Television Awards), winning Best Actress in a TV Program for her portrayal of Nora in the TV series Any Time Now and Best Actress in A Film for her portrayal of "Molly" in Bloom, an adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses. In March 2011 she reunited with other Commitments cast members to play a number of gigs culminating with a live concert at the O2 Dublin (formerly The Point Depot). She is currently working on an album and some independent projects.

An image of Ball, in character as Imelda Quirke in the film The Commitments, was featured on an Irish postage stamp as part of the Ireland 1996: Irish Cinema Centenary series issued by An Post.^[1] The image includes her The Commitments co-stars Robert Arkins as Jimmy Rabbitte, Maria Doyle Kennedy as Natalie Murphy and Bronagh Gallagher as Bernie McGloughlin.^[1]

Works

Her works include the following:

• Ball had a brief part in the film My Girl 2 (1994) as the protagonist's mother, where she sang an a cappella solo of the Chaplin song "Smile".
• In 1999 Ball played the part of Cass Trenton in The Outer Limits episode "Star Crossed".
• Ball has appeared in various Irish films including Trojan Eddie as the estranged wife of a character portrayed by Stephen Rea, The General (which also starred her The Commitments co-backing singer Maria Doyle Kennedy as her sister) and The Tiger's Tale, both of which starred Brendan Gleeson and were directed by John Boorman.
• She was widely acclaimed for her performance as Molly Bloom in Sean Walsh's 2003 version of Ulysses entitled Bloom. Her co-star was Stephen Rea as Leopold Bloom. Joycean scholar David Norris said that her Molly Bloom was the best that he had ever seen and she won the 2003 Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress for her role in the film.^[2]
• Stephen Rea also directed her as Mrs. Gogan in a modern-day interpretation of Seán O'Casey's classic play The Plough and the Stars on the Dublin stage.
• The television dramas she has appeared in have included Brothers in Trouble, Our Friends in the North, Doc Martin, Any Time Now, Bait and What We Did on Our Holiday.
• She played alcoholic country and western enthusiast Annie Little in the 2007 Irish television series Trouble in Paradise. As Ball is also an accomplished singer, she provided the vocals for the series' theme song.
• Ball has done voice-overs for the Irish children's program Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks.
• Ball appeared as Widow Quin in a modern-day interpretation of The Playboy of the Western World in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.
• On May 26, 2008, Ball made her debut as Maggie Townsend, Bradley Branning's boss in BBC TV drama series EastEnders.
• Ball played the part of Bella, the girlfriend of Eddie Scrooge (played by Ross Kemp) in a modern-day adaptation of A Christmas Carol set on a rundown housing estate.
• In 2012, Ball played Gloria Meak in the Channel 4 TV comedy drama series Shameless.

See also

• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References

External links

• Angeline Ball at the Internet Movie Database