Browse: Home / Celebrating the Living: Colm Meaney

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login

The-SoluteLogo

A Film Site By Lovers of Film

Menu

Skip to content
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • Long Reviews
  • News
  • Articles and Opinions
  • Other Media
  • The Friday Article Roundup: The Truth is In Here
  • Lunch Links: Schwarzfahrer
  • Websites on the Internet: THE SOLUTE
  • New on DVD and Blu-Ray
  • Movie Gifts Holidays 2024
That's blasphemy!

Celebrating the Living: Colm Meaney

Posted By Gillianren on July 2, 2023 in Features | Leave a response

In my long-ago youth, Colm Meaney was Hollywood’s go-to Irish actor. It was never a surprise to see him turn up. This was during his O’Brien years, as it happens. His first appearance as the character was in “Encounter at Farpoint,” in 1987. He would be an occasional presence there while also being in such films as The Commitments and Far and Away. Arguably, he was one of the most famous of the regulars on Deep Space Nine when the show began, up there with Avery Brooks. And I will always think of him as Mr. Rabbite, insisting that it’s blasphemy to say Elvis was a Cajun.

I’d suggest he’s definitely the busiest of the DS9 actors. 147 credits, and that doesn’t include stage acting and of course con appearances. Only Michael Dorn has appeared on more Trek episodes over the course of the shows. He’s a steady presence even before his character was given a real personality. As Transporter Chief O’Brien, he made sure people, you know, survived. He was always there, and he was ready for it. Slowly, he was given more of a personality, then a wife and eventually child, and then he was chosen to be the character who helped us with the first Trek that wasn’t set on the Enterprise.

Honestly, Colm Meaney’s appearance in something isn’t necessarily enough to get me willing to watch it, because he’s been in some real turkeys. I am more intrigued than ever by The Serpent Queen knowing he plays a king of France in it, because that is definitely a choice. I am likewise intrigued by the production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof wherein he plays Big Daddy, with Sienna Miller as Maggie and Jack O’Connell as Brick. (Have they moved it to Cork?) But not even for him will I watch Norm of the North.

He can play menacing. He can play genial. He can play Elvis-obsessed. He can play competent. He can play flirtatious. I’ve seen him in a wide array of roles playing a wide array of personalities, and he has more range than I think people realize, because I think most people know him from DS9 memes—not even necessarily the show. And, of course, the continual Irish actor roles. The idea that he’s done as much as he has, plus theatre, would come as quite the surprise to a lot of people. It’s a shame; he’s definitely worth discussing here.

Writing about him makes me want to go rush out and see The Commitments, even though I actually have commitments of my own today and might not have time for a while. That’s a movie packed with fun performances, and Meaney steals every scene he’s in. And while I’m waiting for Tom Cruise to die before I rewatch Far and Away, he’s so much fun in that as well. I’m not sure I’ve seen him in anything where he wasn’t good, even if what was around him was not. Which is of course my highest compliment.

Compliment me by contributing to my Patreon or Ko-fi!

Posted in Features | Tagged celebrate the living, Colm Meaney, tribute

About the Author

gillianmadeira@hotmail.com'

Gillianren

Gillianren is a forty-something bipolar woman living in the Pacific Northwest after growing up in Los Angeles County. She and her boyfriend have one son and one daughter, and she gave a daughter up for adoption. She fills her days by watching her local library system’s DVD collection in alphabetical order, watching everything that looks interesting. She particularly enjoys pre-Code films, blaxploitation, and live-action Disney movies of the ’60s and ’70s. She has a Patreon account at https://www.patreon.com/gillianren

Related Posts

Life is a mysteryCelebrating the Living: Madonna→

Clearly Pryor knew a thing or two about wooing womenAttention Must Be Paid: Richard Pryor→

Definitely how most people picture him.Celebrating the Living: John Cameron Mitchell→

A sexy hot mess bigot!Attention Must Be Paid: Patricia Highsmith→

  • Comments
  • Popular
  • Most Recent
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleWonderful piece, Sam. It's made…
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleFellow heretic here. I've never…
  • n***********@gmail.com'
    Ruck Cohlchez on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEI wouldn't have called it…
  • j***********@gmail.com'
    Son of Griff on LIFE ITSELFGlad to hear back from…
  • n*********@gmail.com'
    Jake Gittes on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEThis is the single most…
  • “The End” of SAVAGES

    38549 views / Posted November 10, 2014
  • The Untalented Mr. Ripley: The Craft of Standup Comedy and the Non-Comedy of TOM MYERS

    31197 views / Posted June 26, 2018
  • What the fuck did I just watch? SPHERE

    30590 views / Posted March 19, 2015
  • Gordon with Mr. Looper

    Attention Must Be Paid: Will Lee

    27740 views / Posted January 7, 2023
  • Scenic Routes: SHOWGIRLS (1995)

    23692 views / Posted November 20, 2014
  • The truth is FAR out there.

    The Friday Article Roundup: The Truth is In Here

    December 6, 2024 / The Ploughman
  • This is a way lower res image than I will be allowed to get away with at the new site.

    Lunch Links: Schwarzfahrer

    December 5, 2024 / The Ploughman
  • Websites on the Internet: THE SOLUTE

    December 4, 2024 / ZoeZ
  • New on DVD and Blu-Ray

    December 3, 2024 / Greta Taylor
  • Movie Gifts Holidays 2024

    December 2, 2024 / The Ploughman

Last Tweets

    ©2014 - 2016 The-Solute | Hosted, Developed and Maintained by Bellingham WP LogoBellinghamWP.com.

    Menu

    • Home
    • Who We Are
    • About
    • Privacy
    • Contact Us
    • Login
    Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!