Orla Brady is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. She has been nominated for several awards from the Irish Film & Television Academy for her work in televised programs, as well as starring in the RTÉ/BBC co-production A Love Divided where she portrayed Sheila Cloney, for which she won the 1999 Golden Nymph Best Actress Award. She began her career with the Balloonatics Theatre Company as a touring performer, later gaining her first minor role in television as a bank clerk in the series Minder in 1993. Her first role in film was as Vanessa in Words Upon the Window Pane in 1994. Brady starred in recurring roles in a number of US and UK series, and in a Doctor Who special. In 2020, she was listed as number 43 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Early life
Brady was born in Dublin, the second of four children of Patrick and his wife Catherine. She lived in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, from birth until the age of seven. She was educated at a Loreto Convent in Wicklow and an Ursuline Convent in Dublin. At 25, she moved to Paris, where she studied at L'École Philippe Gaulier, securing a place at Marcel Marceau's École Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris.
Career
Brady began her career with Balloonatics Theatre Company, touring productions of Hamlet and Finnegans Wake. She then returned to Dublin to perform at the Gate Theatre where she played Adele in House of Bernarda Alba and Natasha in Three Sisters. After moving to London, she played Kate in Brian Friel's Philadelphia, Here I Come!, which later transferred from the King's Head Theatre to the West End. Brady's first professional work in England was in Blinded by the Sun by Stephen Poliakoff at the Royal National Theatre and she has since developed a career based on both Irish and British located theatre, television and film. These have included the RTÉ/BBC co-production A Love Divided where she portrayed Sheila Cloney, for which she won the 1999 Golden Nymph Best Actress Award at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. She also played one of four main characters in the BBC's drama series Mistresses, Siobhan Dillon, a lawyer who struggled to maintain her relationship with husband Hari while also having an affair with her colleague, Dominic, with whom she later went on to have a child. Also, she has appeared in RTÉ's Proof, and had roles in films such as Words Upon the Window Pane, The Luzhin Defence, How About You, and 32A. Since moving to California in 2001, Brady has also appeared in Family Law, where she played Naoise O'Niell. The series ran for 3 years on CBS. She has also starred in Nip/Tuck, a US drama about plastic surgeons in which she played Dr. Jordan. She later starred in Shark as Claire Stark, the ex-wife of James Woods. In 2008, she appeared in Firewall, the second episode of the BBC series Wallander. She also appeared as Meredith Gates, a fleecing art collector who herself is conned in the first series of the British series Hustle. Commencing in 2009, Brady portrayed Elizabeth Bishop, the wife of Walter Bishop and the mother of Peter Bishop in the Fox television series Fringe. In 2010, she appeared in the TV series The Deep alongside James Nesbitt, wherein she played Catherine. She also starred in the TV series Strike Back as Katie Dartmouth. In 2012, she appeared in the ITV series Eternal Law as Mrs Sheringham, an angel who fell in love with a human and became mortal. She also she played Taryn in the Sky1 series Sinbad. In late 2013, she appeared as the Countess Vera Rossakoff in the television adaptation of The Labours of Hercules, part of the final series of Agatha Christie's Poirot alongside David Suchet. On 25 December 2013, Brady starred in the 2013 Christmas special episode The Time of the Doctor of the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who as the character Tasha Lem. In 2014, she filmed Banished, playing Anne Meredith. From 2017 to 2019, she had a main role in the AMC martial arts drama series Into the Badlands as Lydia. In 2019, Brady portrayed Dr. Hopple in , the ninth season of the FXhorroranthology television seriesAmerican Horror Story. In 2020 has a recurring role as Laris, in sci-fi series,
Photographic model
In the late 1980s, Brady posed for a series of photographic figure studies that were published in The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual. An image of Brady posing in her own dress was used by the artistJack Vettriano as the focal subject of The Singing Butler.
