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Born on May 12, 1950 in Dublin, Ireland, Gabriel Byrne is the oldest of six children raised by a Guinness factory worker father and nurse mother. When he was 12 years old, a Catholic priest came to his school to show students what life was like saving souls in the South Pacific. From that moment, Gabriel was interested in becoming a member of the clergy, and eventually went to seminary in Birmingham. But Gabriel and life in the seminary proved an unhappy match. He returned home to Dublin and landed a scholarship to University College, where he studied languages and archeology. After graduating, he toiled in a series of odd jobs, famously installing glass eyes in teddy bears at a toy factory, working as a plumber, and teaching English. He made his first foray into acting in 1974 with the Dublin Shakespeare Society, then joined the Focus Theatre, an experimental repertory company run by director Jim Sheridan. In 1978, he began acting full-time at the Abbey Theatre, where he stayed for two years. He had found his calling.
Thanks to his stage work, he started to land minor parts in small films, making his debut in “On a Paving Stone Mounted” (1978), which he followed with “The Outsider” (1979), a film that led to starring roles in the Irish soap opera “The Riordans” and its spin-off “Bracken.” Gabriel’s first significant film role was as King Arthur’s father in John Boorman’s “Excalibur” (1981), which brought several other new faces to the screen, including Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart, and Ciaran Hinds. He played an Israeli attorney in Costa-Gavras’ “Hannah K” (1983), then a German soldier in Michael Mann’s supernatural war drama “The Keep” (1983), with Ian McKellan. He proved a capable lead in the taut political thriller “Defense of the Realm” (1985), playing a newspaper reporter investigating the crash of a nuclear bomber in the English countryside. But Hollywood remained distant. He turned to American television in a pair of miniseries, playing the title role of “Christopher Columbus” (CBS, 1985), then the father of fascism’s son in “Mussolini: The Untold Story” (NBC, 1985). Back on the big screen, he co-starred in several features, including “Gothic” (1986), directed by Ken Russell, “Julia and Julia” (1987), “Siesta” (1987), co-starring with his future wife, Ellen Barkin, “Lionheart” (1987) and “Hello, Again” (1987), before returning to England to take the lead in “Diamond Skulls” (aka “Dark Obsession” in the US) (1989).
