Anna Manahan


Anna Maria Manahan was an Irish stage, film and television actress.
Manahan received two Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play nominations for her performances in the 1968 production of Lovers and the 1998 production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, the latter for which she won at the 52nd Tony Awards.
Manahan was also nominated for two Drama Desk Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award in her career spanned more than 60 years. She interpreted the works of, among others, Seán O'Casey, John B. Keane, John Millington Synge, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Martin McDonagh, Christy Brown, and Brian Friel.

Career

Manahan was born in County Waterford in what was then the Irish Free State. Her career began when, as a young woman, she was recruited by the legendary Irish impresarios and theatrical directors Micheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards. She later married stage director Colm O'Kelly, who died not long afterwards of polio, which he contracted after swimming in the Nile during a theatre tour of Egypt. They had no children and she never remarried. She was known professionally by her maiden name.
In 1946 she appeared in a production by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy, The Wild Goose where she played the part of Eileen Connolly, this was performed by Equity Productions in the Theatre Royal, Waterford.
In 1957, she played Serafina in the first Irish production of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo and achieved unexpected notoriety when she and several other members of the cast were arrested for the possession of a condom on stage.
Manahan played a minor role in the Irish cult soap opera The Riordans, and as Mrs. Mary Kenefick in the TV comedy Me Mammy. She also played the lead in the Irish comedy series, Leave It To Mrs O'Brien and Mrs. Cadogan in The Irish R.M.. Most recently she played Ursula in Fair City, for which her niece, Michele Manahan, is a writer.
She had an extensive theatre portfolio having played at theatres throughout Ireland including the Abbey Theatre, the UK, continental Europe, the US and Australia. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Mag in Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane on Broadway. She previously received a Tony nomination in 1969 for Brian Friel's Lovers.
The late Irish playwright John B. Keane wrote the play Big Maggie specifically for her. In 2001 she starred in Keane's The Matchmaker with veteran Irish actor Des Keogh. In 2005 she starred in Sisters, a new play by Declan Hassett that was also written for her and for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in the category of Outstanding Solo Performance. The production toured Ireland and was staged at the International Festival of World Theatre in Colorado and also played at the 59e59 Theater in New York City in 2006.
She appeared in films starring, among others, Laurence Olivier, Peter Cushing, Kenneth More, Christopher Walken, Maggie Smith, Albert Finney and Brenda Fricker, and with John Gielgud in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
She received the Gold Medal of the Éire Society of Boston in 1984 and thus joined the company of past recipients such as John F. Kennedy, and film makers John Ford and John Huston. She received an honorary doctorate in letters from the University of Limerick in 2003. She was granted the freedom of the city of Waterford in 2002 in recognition of her life's achievement in the arts. She thus became the 28th Freeman of Waterford since Isaac Butt in 1877.
In 2004 she started to play the role of Ursula in Fair City. All About Anna a documentary on her life and work was made by Charlie Mc Carthy/Icebox Films for RTÉ television. In 2008, she became the first ever patron of the Active Retirement Ireland organization.

Death and funeral

Manahan died of multiple organ failure on 8 March 2009 in Waterford, Ireland. She had suffered from a longterm illness.
Her funeral was held on 11 March, officiated by her "longtime friend" the psychoanalyst, poet, and priest Bernard Kennedy. "As the final curtain falls, the lights dim, the auditorium becomes silent, we remember her" he said. Describing her as a woman of faith, he said she had brought everyone together to be present at "her last great exit from this great stage of life," saying her life's work had drawn people from all over the world. "Anna believed in the empty tomb of the Resurrection and she believed the empty tomb could be filled by hearing the word take the place of the emptiness," he said. "She knew the bedsits which preceded the Tony nomination."
Manahan was buried in Ballygunner Cemetery, Knockboy.

Filmography

Film

She Didn't Say No! – Maggie MurphyOf Human Bondage – Waitress Ulysses – Bella CohenThe Viking Queen – Shopkeeper's WifeA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Clash of the Titans – A Stygian Witch #2All Dogs Go to Heaven – Stella Dallas Hear My Song – Mrs. McGlinchyFatal Inheritance – Mrs. GriffithA Business Affair – BiancaA Man of No Importance – Mrs. GraceA Troll in Central Park – Woman Found Dead in Elevator – Answering ServiceOn the Edge – Cat WomanBlack Day at Blackrock – Cat Woman

Television performances

Art of Reception The Riordans ITV Play of the week – Widow QuinThe Wednesday Play – Mrs. O'BrienTheatre 625 – Harriet ReilleyInsurrection – HousewifeZ-Cars – Mrs. BoswellSanctuary – Mrs. O'ReillyThe Mike Douglas Show – HerselfMe Mammy – Mrs. KennefickFine Girl You Are – OliveTeems of Times – Granny FurlongPlay for Today – Maggie DonoghueA Tale of Two Cities – The VengeanceJuno and the Paycock – Mrs. MadiganThe Ballyskillen Opera House – Theresa HalliganRoger Doesn't Live Here Anymore – Woman in courtITV Playhouse – Mary Higgins / MotherThe Country Girls – Mrs. BurnsThe Irish R.M. Leave It to Mrs O'Brien – Mrs. O'BrienLost Belongings – CillaSmall World – Nosy neighbourBlind Justice – Cora DavisThe Bill – Mrs. Ward / Mrs. KavanaghThe Treaty – Woman 2Heaven Only Knows – GretaThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – Old Woman at GPOLovejoy – Irish LilDear Boy:The Story of Michael MacLiammoir Straight to Video – Mammy LilyThe Clinic – Brendan's NanFair City – Ursula Cruise All About Anna Ireland AM – Herself

Theatre performances

Radio performances