Michael Smiley
Michael Smiley (born 1963) is a Northern Irish comedian and actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Kill List (2011) and The Lobster (2015).
Michael Smiley | |
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![]() Smiley in 2016 | |
Born | 1963 (age 57–58) |
Occupation | Comedian & Actor |
Spouse(s) | Miranda Sawyer |
Children | Patrick Sawyer and Frankie-May Sawyer |
Early life
Smiley was born in 1963 in Belfast and grew up in Holywood.[1][2] He moved to London in his 20s with his wife. He began doing stand-up in 1993, after accepting a bet at an open-mic night. He had worked as a cycle courier (like his character in Spaced) and as an acid house DJ.[3]
Career
He became well known for his role as Tyres O'Flaherty, the bicycle riding raver, in two episodes of the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, and for his appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe and the Melbourne Comedy Festival.[3] He played Mac, a former member of the British Army's Parachute Regiment in the 2008 horror film Outpost and as a zombie in Shaun of the Dead.
In 2003, he guest starred in the Doctor Who audio drama Creatures of Beauty. In 2004 he appeared in season 2, episode 4 of Hustle as Max the forger.[4] He also was a small character in episode 2 "The Model" of 15 Storeys High.
He has appeared in all three series of The Maltby Collection on Radio 4 as Des Wainwright, an eccentric security guard who keeps repeating himself and reminding people he was in the SAS. He plays the part of Benny "Deadhead" Silver in the BBC drama series Luther. In 2010, he had a major role in the film Burke & Hare alongside his Spaced co-stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes.
In 2011, he starred in British horror film Kill List. The film received critical acclaim, and earned him the "Best Supporting Actor" Award at the 2011 British Independent Film Awards.[5]
In 2013, he has appeared in an episode of BBC One's Ripper Street as George Lusk, and the critically acclaimed Channel 4 shows Utopia as Detective Reynolds and Black Mirror as Baxter. He also starred in A Field in England as the main antagonist, the alchemist O'Neill. He also played Roddy in Father Figure. In November 2013 he appeared in the third episode of the BBC Two Mitchell and Webb comedy Ambassadors as Mr Jackson. In 2014, he played Micky Murray in BBC Four's The Life of Rock with Brian Pern.
To coincide with the opening stages of the Giro d'Italia in May 2014, Michael Smiley:Something to Ride Home About was a travelog programme for BBC Northern Ireland, directed by George Kane, featuring Smiley cycling around Northern Ireland and meeting local people.[6][7][8] A second series was commissioned for 2015.[6]
In 2014 Smiley played Colonel Morgan Blue in the Doctor Who episode "Into the Dalek".[9]
In 2013, Smiley also starred in the Netflix show Black Mirror as Baxter in “White Bear”. He also had a major role in British crime series Luther (TV series) acting as “Deadhead” Benny Silver from 2010 until 2019.
In 2019, Smiley co-starred with Elijah Wood and Martin Donovan in the film Come to Daddy directed by Ant Timpson.[10]
In 2020, he is currently starring in Dead Still a 6-part Irish-Canadian television drama series, alongside co-stars Eileen O'Higgins & Kerr Logan , which premiered on May 18, 2020 on Acorn TV and May 15, 2020 Citytv.[11] The series is a co-production between Ireland's Deadpan Pictures and Canada's Shaftesbury Films and is written by John Morton, and directed by Imogen Murphy and Craig David Wallace.[12][13][14]
Personal life
Smiley is married to journalist/broadcaster Miranda Sawyer, with whom he has a son and a daughter. The family lives near Brockwell Park in Herne Hill, London.[15] He shared a flat with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the 1990s.[16]
Filmography
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | The Heist | Detective | Television film; uncredited |
2000 | Burnside | Matthew Hutchins | Episode: "Back with a Vengeance: Part 1" |
1999-2001 | Spaced | Tyres O'Flaherty | 2 episodes |
2000-2002 | Time Gentlemen Please | Martin | 3 episodes |
2002 | 15 Storeys High | Insistent Irish visitor | Episode: "The Model" |
2004 | Murder Prevention | DC Maurice Gibney | 4 episodes |
2005 | Bleak House | Phil Squod | 8 episodes |
2005 | Hustle | Max | Episode: "Missions" |
2005 | ShakespeaRe-Told | Peter | Episode: "Much Ado About Nothing" |
2005 | Rose and Maloney | DS Mallam | Episode: "Rise & Fall" |
2007 | In the Spider's Web | Phil | Television film |
2007 | Y Pris | Captain | Episode: "Episode #1.3" |
2007 | Nearly Famous | Danny | Episode: "Episode #1.5" |
2008 | The Wrong Door | 2 episodes | |
2008 | HolbyBlue | Brendan Duffy | Episode: "Episode #2.10" |
2008 | Wire in the Blood | Dr. Liam Kerwin | 7 episodes |
2009 | Law & Order: UK | Danny Doyle | Episode: "Unsafe" |
2010 | One Night in Emergency | Mortuary Attendant | Television film |
2010-2019 | Luther | Benny Silver | 16 episodes |
2011 | Stolen | Sean | Television film |
2012 | Coming Up | Ricky | Episode: "Spoof or Die" |
2012 | Good Cop | Tom Lomax | Episode: "Episode Two" |
2012 | New Tricks | Tinker | Episode: "Part of a Whole" |
2013 | Ripper Street | George Lusk | Episode: "In My Protection" |
2013 | Utopia | Detective Reynolds | Episode: "Episode 1" |
2013 | Black Mirror | Baxter | Episode: "White Bear" |
2013 | Father Figure | Roddy | 6 episodes |
2013 | Ambassadors | Mr Jackson | Episode: "The Tazbek Spring" |
2013-2014 | Monumental | Self | |
2014 | The Life of Rock with Brian Pern | Micky Murray | 2 episodes |
2014 | Doctor Who | Colonel Morgan Blue | Episode: "Into the Dalek" |
2014 | Edge of Heaven | Snowy | 2 episodes |
2014-2015 | Michael Smiley: Something to Ride Home About | Self | |
2015 | Comedy Feeds | Les | Episode: "Fishbowl" |
2016 | The Aliens | Antoine Berry | 5 episodes |
2016 | Murder | Whitmore Harris | Episode: "The Big Bang" |
2020 | Dead Still | Brock Blennerhasset | Series lead |
Films
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Shaun of the Dead | Zombie Tyres O’Flaherty | Uncredited |
2006 | Breaking and Entering | Thaddeus | Uncredited |
2006 | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | Porter | |
2006 | Land of the Blind | Thorne's Lieutenant | |
2008 | Outpost | McKay | |
2008 | The Other Boleyn Girl | Physician | |
2008 | Terra Firma | Quentin | Short film |
2009 | Down Terrace | Pringle | |
2009 | Believe | Lewis | Short film |
2010 | Burke & Hare | Patterson | |
2011 | Kill List | Gal | |
2011 | Big Fat Gypsy Gangster | Mad Mick | |
2012 | Shell | Hugh | |
2012 | The ABCs of Death | Father Tom | Segment: ""U Is for Unearthed" |
2013 | For Those in Peril | Frank | |
2013 | A Field in England | O'Neil | |
2013 | Svengali | Irish Pierre | |
2013 | We Are the Freaks | Killer Colin | |
2013 | The World's End | Reverend Green | |
2014 | Glassland | Jim | |
2014 | Black Sea | Reynolds | |
2015 | The Hallow | Garda Davey | |
2015 | The Lobster | Loner Swimmer | |
2015 | Orthodox | Shannon | |
2015 | My Name is Emily | Robert | |
2015 | Tank 432 | Capper | |
2016 | Free Fire | Frank | |
2016 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Dr. Cornelius Evazan | |
2017 | Madame | David | |
2017 | Jawbone | Eddie | |
2018 | Birthmarked | Gertz | |
2018 | The Nun | Priest | |
2019 | Come to Daddy | Jethro | |
2019 | Rialto | Noel |
Radio
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Eye Witness | BBC Radio 3 | |
2007-2009 | The Maltby Collection | Des Wainwright | BBC Radio 4 |
References
- "BBC One - Monumental - Michael Simley". BBC One. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- "Michael Smiley: 'I'm an overnight success after 20 years!'". Belfast Telegraph. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- "Living the life of Smiley". BBC News. 10 August 1998. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- "Hustle - what time is it on TV? Episode 4 Series 2 cast list and preview". RadioTimes. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- Exley, Gemma (5 December 2012). "British Independent Film Awards 2011: Fassbender, Ramsey & Sophie from Peep Show win". Holy Moly. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- "'Michael Smiley: Something To Ride Home About' Gets Second Series". Irish Film and Television Network. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- Jarlath Regan (14 October 2013). "Michael Smiley". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast) (7 ed.). SoundCloud. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- Jarlath Regan (11 June 2014). "George Kane". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast) (56 ed.). SoundCloud. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- Mulkern, Patrick (30 August 2014). "Into the Dalek ****". Radio Times. London, UK. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- Come to Daddy Review by Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, February 6, 2020.
- Yeo, Debra (May 15, 2020). "He shoots dead people: Acorn TV's delightful 'Dead Still' blends the macabre art of post-mortem photography with period mystery". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- Clarke, Stewart (May 30, 2020). "Acorn TV, Ireland's RTE Team for Morbidly Comic Drama 'Dead Still'". Variety. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- Keller, Joel (May 18, 2020). "Stream It Or Skip It: 'Dead Still' On Acorn TV, Where A Memorial Photographer Looks Into Murders In Victorian Dublin". Decider. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- Starr, Michael (May 19, 2020). "'Dead Still' gives look into creepy world of Victorian-era death photography". The New York Post. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- Tyler, Simon (7 June 2013). "Miranda Sawyer Interview". Not a Bad Dad. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- Marsh, Hannah. "Welcome to the bonkers world of Michael Smiley". The Echo. Basildon. Retrieved 18 August 2013.