David O’Dornan
When Brendan O’Carroll, creator and star of Mrs Brown’s Boys, stood on stage to collect his first BAFTA for the phenomenally successful comedy series in 2012, it marked a new milestone in his incredible career. Finally, he was being acknowledged as a worldwide sensation in his roe as the irrepressible ’Mammy’ Agnes Brown. Over the last few years, Brendan has spread his wings to taste success as an author, a playwright, a comedian, an actor, a television star and more, picking up major awards along the way. But it hasn’t always been a bed of roses for the Dubliner, who started off life working as a waiter before evolving into the hardest working man in showbiz. Born in 1955 as the youngest of 11 children, he grew up in a two-bedroom corporation house in the rough-and-tumble working class area of Finglas in north Dublin. After his father Gerard died, when Brendan was just seven years old, his formidable mother Maureen - who influenced Brendan’s future career - raised him on her own. Life truly didn’t begin until 40 for Brendan, who left school aged just 12 and tried his hand at anything to earn a living, including jobs as a milkman, DJ, bar manager and painter and decorator. But after being persuaded to have a go on the comedy circuit it was the beginning of a new dawn in Brendan’s life that would see him become the man with the Midas touch. In the years since, his work rate has been phenomenal as his earthy comedy has become a global hit, he found love again and with his second wife and co-star Jennifer Gibney and he has become rich beyond his wildest dreams thanks to his foul-mouthed matriarch Mrs Brown.
