Dearbhla Molloy
Dearbhla Molloy (; born 1946) is an Irish actress. Early life. Molloy was born to John Molloy and Evelyn Ryan and grew up on Yellow Walls Road in Malahide, the eldest of seven children. She attended an Irish-language school and finished her Leaving Cert at 16. As she was too young for university, she took a drama course at the Brendan Smith Academy before being accepted to the Abbey Theatre when she was 18. Career. Molloy consolidated her stage reputation at both the Abbey and the Gate theatres, coming to Britain to tour with an Abbey production. She  was invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and has played Gertrude to Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" in the West End. In 1991 she was in the company that performed Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa", about the sad lives of a group of sisters in pre-war rural Ireland, on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony award, losing to co-star Bríd Brennan, although her role went to the Kathy Burke in the film version. She has appeared in such television plays and series, as Michael Palin's wife in the "GBH" and in "New Tricks", "Midsomer Murders , and Sex, the City and Me". and The Bill Among her theatrical credits are: "" (Tricycle Theatre); "In Celebration" (Duke of York's Theatre); "Dancing at Lughnasa", "Juno and the Paycock", "A Touch of the Poet" (on Broadway); "Juno and the Paycock" (Donmar Warehouse); "The Cripple of Inishmaan", "On the Ledge", "Hinterland" (National Theatre); "Arcadia" (Haymarket); "The Life of the World to Come" (Almeida); "The Hostage" (Royal Shakespeare Company); and "The Plough and the Stars" (Young Vic). She has appeared extensively in the plays of Irish playwright Brian Friel. On television, she has appeared in "Waking the Dead", "Foyle's War , Killer", "Midsomer Murders", "New Tricks", and the 1960s RTÉ soap opera "Tolka Row". In 2009, she joined the cast of Coronation Street as the mother of Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh), succeeding Sorcha Cusack who played the part of Helen Connor the year before. She reprised her role for two episodes in 2015. Her film credits include "Tara Road", "The Blackwater Lightship" and "This Is the Sea". In April 2017 she appeared in "The Ferryman" at the Royal Court Theatre, ahead of a transfer to the Gielgud Theatre in the West End. Her performance earned her an Olivier Award nomination as  best supporting actress Personal life. Molloy married Bobby Carlisle at 21 years old, with whom she had a son Rory. They separated after five years and pursued a divorce in England and an annulment in Ireland. She later married Brian de Salvo and divorced him in 1995.