Joseph Tomelty

Joseph Tomelty was an Irish actor, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and theatre manager. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage, starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play Over the Bridge. He was born in Portaferry in 1911, the son of a skilled fiddler. He began his career as a house painter, but was inspired by a performance of Juno and the Paycock by the Abbey Theatre Company. He joined the St. Peter's Players in 1937 and wrote his first radio play, Barnum is Right, in 1938. He was a founding member of the Belfast Group Theatre and served as its General Manager from 1942 to 1951. He wrote eight plays, including All Souls' Night, a classic of Irish literature, and two novels, Red Is the Port Light and The Apprentice. He also wrote and acted in The McCooey's, a weekly radio serial about working class life, broadcast by BBC Northern Ireland from 1948 to 1954. He appeared in many British and American films, such as Odd Man Out, Hobson's Choice, Moby Dick and A Night to Remember. His writing career ended after he sustained injuries in a car crash in England in 1956, but he continued to act in films and theatre until 1964. He died in Belfast in 1995, at the age of 84. He was the father of actress Frances Tomelty, the first wife of singer Sting, and actress Roma Tomelty, who died in 2020.