# Patrick Bergin

Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer. In 1991 he starred opposite Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy and played the title character in Robin Hood. His other roles include terrorist Kevin O'Donnell in Patriot Games (1992) and the villainous Aidan Maguire in the BBC soap opera EastEnders (2017–2018).

## Early life

Bergin was born in Dublin, where he grew up in Drimnagh. His father, Paddy Bergin, was a Labour Party politician who once studied to be a priest with the Holy Ghost Fathers in Blackrock, Ireland. Patrick was one of four sons and one daughter (Pearse, Emmet, Patrick, Allen and Siobhan Bergin). He left Dublin for London in 1973, and by the time he was 17 he was in London running a theatre company. He worked on building sites and at a library. He studied at night and completed an education degree from North London Polytechnic (later the University of North London). He was an English teacher for several years, then formed his own theatrical company because "no one else would have him". His brother Emmet Bergin also became an actor, best known for playing Dick Moran in the soap opera Glenroe for its full 1983–2001 run.

## Career

In 1980, Bergin decided to pursue acting full-time and found work in repertory theatre. He played the explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton in Mountains of the Moon (1990) and followed this with diverse acting roles, including a trilogy of Yeats plays; Morphine and Dolly Mixtures, for which he won a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actor; Durango, based on John B Keane's novel; hosting TnaG's Suilín Draíochta; and narrating Patrick Cassidy's Famine Remembrance. Bergin played the menacing husband of Julia Roberts' character in the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy (1991). In the same year he portrayed the title character in Robin Hood, opposite Uma Thurman as Maid Marian.
Bergin is also known for his role as Irish terrorist Kevin O'Donnell in the film adaptation of Tom Clancy's Patriot Games (1992). He described 1996 as the lowest point in his career, a time when he rarely received any calls for film roles. In 2013 he appeared in the Scottish film The Wee Man playing notorious Glasgow gangster Arthur 'The Godfather' Thompson. He joined the BBC soap opera EastEnders towards the end of 2017, departing in March 2018.

### Music

Bergin leads the band Patrick Bergin and the Spirit Merchants. They had a top 10 hit in Ireland with their song "The Knacker", released in 2003, which tells the story of a person who recycles horse carcasses and turns them into glue. As a singer, Bergin collaborated with Vlad DeBriansky and appeared on his album Jacks Last Dollar. He also appeared in the video of DJ Steve Mac's song "Paddy's Revenge".
Bergin was onstage singing the Leonard Cohen song "Anthem" as Pope Francis, on his visit to Ireland, arrived in Croke Park for the Festival of Families as part of the World Meeting of Families 2018.

## Charity work

In 1993, Bergin bought an old church in County Tipperary and converted it into a poetry centre. He explained: "I've recently come to feel I can encourage children and teenagers with their writing. I'm continually giving groups money to make videos, but I insist that they have a good script. I do it because it makes the difference between them doing a video or not. It doesn't cost a lot, and it gives kids an incredible boost of confidence." In 1998, in response to the murder of a 14-year-old Tallaght boy, Ben Smyth, Bergin helped to establish a special fund to sponsor young children from Tallaght.

## Personal life

At a wedding in the early 1980s, Bergin met his future wife, Paula Frazier. They married in Trinidad and Tobago in 1992. They have a daughter. After their divorce, Bergin began dating Helen Goldin.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Taffin | Mo Taffin | |
| 1988 | The Courier | Christy | |
| 1990 | Mountains of the Moon | Richard Burton | |
| 1991 | Sleeping with the Enemy | Martin | |
| 1991 | Robin Hood | Sir Robert Hode / Robin Hood | |
| 1992 | Highway to Hell | Beezle | |
| 1992 | Love Crimes | David Hanover | |
| 1992 | Map of the Human Heart | Walter Russell | |
| 1992 | Patriot Games | Kevin O'Donnell | |
| 1992 | The Hummingbird Tree | Stephen Holmes | |
| 1993 | All Tied Up | Bartender (uncredited) | Direct-to-Video |
| 1994 | Double Cross | Jack Conealy | Direct-to-Video |
| 1994 | Soft Deceit | Adam Trent | |
| 1996 | Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace | Dr. Benjamin Trace | |
| 1996 | The Proposition | Rhys Williams | |
| 1996 | Angela Mooney | Older Malone | |
| 1997 | The Island on Bird Street | Stefan | |
| 1997 | Suspicious Minds | Jack Ramsey | |
| 1998 | The Lost World | Challenger | |
| 1999 | Treasure Island | Billy Bones | |
| 1999 | Promise Her Anything | Vernon Fry | |
| 1999 | One Man's Hero | General Winfield Scott | |
| 1999 | Eye of the Beholder | Alexander Leonard | |
| 1999 | Escape Velocity | Cal "Captain of the Harbinger" | |
| 1999 | Africa | John Young | |
| 2000 | Press Run | Alex Dodge | |
| 2000 | When the Sky Falls | Mackey | |
| 2000 | Merlin: The Return | King Arthur | |
| 2001 | Cause of Death | Taylor Lewis | |
| 2001 | The Invisible Circus | Gene | |
| 2001 | High Explosive | Jack Randall | |
| 2001 | Devil's Prey | Minister Seth | |
| 2001 | Silent Grace | Peter, IRA man | |
| 2002 | Beneath Loch Ness | Blay | |
| 2001 | Amazons and Gladiators | Crassius | |
| 2003 | Bloom | The citizen | |
| 2003 | The Boys from County Clare | Padjo | |
| 2004 | Ella Enchanted | Sir Peter | |
| 2004 | Berserker | Thorsson | |
| 2004 | High Art, Low Life | Cameron's Driver | |
| 2006 | Johnny Was | Flynn | |
| 2006 | False Prophets | Karl Hawthorne | |
| 2006 | Played | Riley | |
| 2006 | Secret of the Cave | Patrick Wallace | |
| 2006 | The Far Side of Jericho | Jake | |
| 2007 | Casanova's Last Stand | Casanova | |
| 2007 | Babyface | John Roth | |
| 2007 | The Black Pimpernel | US Ambassador | |
| 2007 | Strength and Honour | Papa Boss | |
| 2008 | Dick Dickman P.I. | unknown role | |
| 2008 | Ghostwood | Fr Paul | |
| 2010 | Eva | Oswald | |
| 2011 | The McBrearty Affair | Narrator | Short Film |
| 2011 | A Kiss and a Promise | Detective Anthony Dolan | |
| 2011 | Birthday | Hugo | |
| 2011 | Perfect Day | Rick's Father | |
| 2012 | Eldorado | Roy | Direct-to-Video |
| 2012 | Absolute Fear | Captain Morrow | |
| 2012 | Songs for Amy | Patrick | |
| 2012 | Shark Week | Tiburon | |
| 2012 | Gallowwalkers | Marshall Gaza | |
| 2012 | Angel | Successful Man | Short Film |
| 2013 | The Wee Man | Arthur Thompason | |
| 2013 | Dance of the Steel Bars | Frank | |
| 2013 | The Minnitts of Anabeg | Lord Goode | |
| 2014 | Margery Booth: The Spy in the Eagle's Nest | Standartenfuhrer Kummel | |
| 2015 | Age of Kill | Sir Alistair Montcrief | |
| 2016 | Free Fire | Howie | |
| 2016 | We Still Steal the Old Way | George Briggs | |
| 2016 | Cage | Peter Karl Bradley | |
| 2017 | Native | Irish Man | Short Film |
| 2017 | Roth | John Roth | |
| 2018 | Train Set | Major Julian Muir | |
| 2019 | Odilo Fabian or (The Possibility of Impossible Dreams) | The Mayor of Doubt | Short Film |
| 2020 | The Last Days of American Crime | Rossi Dumois | |
| 2021 | Finding You | Seamus | |
| 2021 | The Kindred | Father Monroe | |
| 2022 | God's Petting You | The American | |
| 2022 | Blackbird | The Head | |
| 2022 | The Ulysses Project | Buck Mulligan / Leopold Bloom | |
| 2022 | Nutcracker Massacre | Dmitri / Toymaker | |
| 2023 | One Ranger | Doc | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Those Glory Glory Days | Spurs Team Member | TV Movie |
| 1987 | Boon | DS Beecher | "Credit Where It's Due" |
| 1987 | Lapsed Catholics | Paul McNally | TV Movie |
| 1988 | Act of Betrayal | Michael McGurk | Miniseries (2 episodes) |
| 1990 | The Real Charlotte | Roderick Lambert | Miniseries (3 episodes) |
| 1991 | Screen Two | Terence O'Farrell | "Morphine and the Dolly Mixtures" |
| 1992 | Frankenstein | Dr. Victor Frankenstein | TV Movie |
| 1993 | Children of the Mist | Mark Samules | TV Movie |
| 1994 | Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics | Dr. Benjamin Ramsey | TV Movie (segment "Where the Dead Are") |
| 1995 | Triple Cross | Jimmy Ray | TV Movie |
| 1996 | The Witch's Daughter | Mr. Smith | TV Movie |
| 1997 | The Apocalypse Watch | Drew Latham | TV Movie |
| 1997 | Stolen Women, Captured Hearts | Daniel Morgan | TV Movie |
| 1997 | The Ripper | Inspector Jim Hansen | TV Movie |
| 1999 | Durango | Fergus Mullaney | TV Movie |
| 1999 | Expedition Journal | N/A | Assistant Producer (1 episode) |
| 2000 | St. Patrick: The Irish Legend | Patrick | TV Movie |
| 2001 | Jewel | Leston Hilburn | TV Movie |
| 2002 | King of Texas | Mr. Highsmith | TV Movie |
| 2002 | Dracula | Vladislav Tepes / Dracula | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Brush with Fate | Headmaster | TV Movie |
| 2003 | Smallville | Morgan Edge | "Shattered" |
| 2005 | Icon | Igor Komarov | TV Movie |
| 2005 | Casanova's Love Letters | Casanova | Miniseries (1 episode) |
| 2006 | Driven | Gerald Workman | "#1.1" |
| 2009 | Hustle | Toby Baxter | "Diamond Seeker" |
| 2011 | Ice | Quinn | Miniseries (2 episodes) |
| 2016 | Fir Bolg | Sean Seoige | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | No Offense | Earl Kennedy | "#2.1" |
| 2017 | Red Rock | Jim Tierney | recurring role (7 episodes) |
| 2017–2018 | EastEnders | Aidan Maguire | series regular (32 episodes) |
| 2018 | Quantico | Liam Killoran | "Who Are You?" |
| 2019 | Wild Bill | Frank McGill | "Nothing Behind the Curtain" |
| 2020 | The South Westerlies | Big Mike | recurring role (6 episodes) |
| 2024 | FBI: International | Niall Walsh | "Touts" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1989 | AACTA Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Mini Series | Act of Betrayal | Nominated |
| 1992 | BAFTA Cymru | Best Actor (Yr Actor Gorau) | Screen Two | Won |
| 1992 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Sleeping with the Enemy | Nominated |
| 2018 | International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema | Best Supporting Actor | Train Set | Nominated |
| 2018 | Madrid International Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Train Set | Nominated |