Dermot Crowley

Dermot Crowley is an Irish stage, film, and television actor born on 19 March 1947 in Cork, Ireland. His career has spanned theatre, film, television, and radio across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States.

Crowley's stage work brought him to Broadway between 1999 and 2007, with credits including The Weir and Translations. His role in The Weir was part of an Olivier Award-winning production of Conor McPherson's play, which toured the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States during the late 1990s. In 2011, he appeared in The Cripple of Inishmaan with the Druid Theatre Company at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, earning the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Featured Performance.

On screen, Crowley's film work includes the role of General Crix Madine in Return of the Jedi and Sgt. François Duval in Son of the Pink Panther. He appeared as the crooked Mr. Simpson in The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, the first episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot, which aired in 1989. In 2013, he appeared in the feature film The Best Offer, and in 2017 he played Lazar Kaganovich in the political satire The Death of Stalin. In 1987, Crowley auditioned for the role of the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who, and footage from his screen test was later included in the DVD special features for Time and the Rani.

Crowley's television credits include Father Ted, in which he played Father Liam Deliverance, as well as appearances in Dangerfield, Jonathan Creek, A Touch of Frost, Holby City, The Bill, Midsomer Murders, and Luther. In 2012, he starred in the BBC One and HBO series Hunted, playing MI6 Spy Chief George Ballard in episodes four and five. His first television role came in 1976, when he played George Bernard Shaw in the UK series Victorian Scandals.

In addition to his screen and stage work, Crowley has been active in audio performance. He read the voice of Molloy on the Naxos 2003 audiobook recording of Samuel Beckett's novel Molloy and has appeared regularly on BBC radio drama, including Mind's Eye and Father Figure, in which he played Pat Whyte in 2013.