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Pat O'Connor

Pat O'Connor was born in Ireland and began his career as a producer and director of documentaries with Ireland's Radio Telefis Eirann (RTE). His 1994 coming of age romance, Circle of Friends, starring Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver, was the highest grossing independent film in the U.S. that year.

O'Connor made his feature directing debut in 1984 with the critically acclaimed Cal, an uncompromising political thriller set against the backdrop of violence in Northern Ireland. The film earned star Helen Mirren a Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

His subsequent films include A Month in the Country (1987), starring Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh, which debuted at the New York Film Festival and won Best Film at the Brussels Film Festival; Stars and Bars (1988), starring Daniel Day Lewis, Martha Plimpton, Joan Cusack and Harry Dean Stanton; The January Man (1989), written by John Patrick Shanley and starring Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Susan Sarandon and Harvey Keitel; Fools of Fortune (1990), starring Julie Christie, which won best picture at the Barcelona Film Festival; Inventing the Abbotts (1996), starring Liv Tyler, Joaquin Phoenix and Billy Crudup, and most recently, Dancing at Lughnasa (1997), starring Meryl Streep, Brid Brennan and Michael Gambon, which was recognized as one of the year's top 10 films by the National Board of Review and for which O'Connor earned the Best Director award from the Irish Film Board.

Additionally, O'Connor was honored with a BAFTA, the British equivalent of the Oscar, for his 1982 TV drama The Ballroom of Romance.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2000.

Pat O'Connor Facts

OccupationDirector
BirthplaceArdmore, Ireland

Selected Filmography

Private Peaceful
Sweet November
Inventing The Abbotts
Circle of Friends
Dancing At Lughnasa
The January Man
A Month in the Country
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