David O'Hara

David O'Hara
Born	(1965-07-09) 9 July 1965 (age 59) Glasgow, Scotland
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–present

David Patrick O'Hara (born 9 July 1965) is a Scottish stage and character actor. A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, he is best known to audiences for his numerous supporting roles in high-profile films; including Irishman Stephen in Braveheart, dimwitted mobster Fitzy in The Departed, hitman Mr. X in Wanted, and Albert Runcorn in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. He portrayed Det. Danny 'Mac' McGregor on The District, and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey on The Tudors.

Early life

O'Hara was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Martha (née Scott) and Patrick O'Hara, a construction worker. He lived with a large Catholic family, and was raised in the Pollok Housing Estate.^[1] His family was Catholic and of Irish descent. After leaving school he was accepted for a Youth Opportunities Programme, at a community theatre based at the Glasgow Arts Centre which toured local schools. At age 17, he moved to London to study at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, but left after two terms because of a shortage of funds. He went back to Scotland and landed a role in Bill Forsyth's Comfort and Joy, then returned to Central to finish his last term, where he was the understudy to Ralph Fiennes in A Midsummer Night's Dream.^{[citation needed]}

Career

O'Hara appeared in a number of Shakespearean productions, including Romeo and Juliet at the Regent Park Open-Air Theatre and The Comedy of Errors at The Pleasance. He spent a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Barbican Centre, where he starred in Bite of the Night, which was directed by Danny Boyle. He appeared as the "mad" Irishman Stephen in Braveheart.

O'Hara had a featured role in the US series The District, which he left after one season to return to the UK. In 2006, O'Hara appeared as Fitzy, one of Jack Nicholson's chief mobsters in the Oscar-winning film The Departed.^[2]

In June 2009, O'Hara was filming The Tudors in Dublin.^[3] He played Albert Runcorn and Harry Potter disguised as Runcorn in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. In April 2017, O'Hara appeared as Alistair Fitz in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Leo Fitz's father.

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Comfort and Joy	Engineer
1986	Link	Tom
1989	Resurrected	Male Nurse
1992	The Bridge	Phillip Wilson Steer
1995	Braveheart	Stephen
	The Near Room	Harris Hill
1996	Some Mother's Son	Frank Higgins
1997	The Devil's Own	Martin MacDuff
	The Slab Boys	Terry Skinnedar
	The Matchmaker	Sean Kelly
1999	Fever	Will
	The Match	The Mechanic
	Janice Beard 45 WPM	O'Brien
2001	Made	The Welshman
2003	Den of Lions	Ferko Kurchina
	Stander	Allan Heyl
2004	Hotel Rwanda	David
2006	Tristan and Isolde	Donnchadh
	The Departed	Patrick "Fitzy" Fitzgibbons
2008	Doomsday	Michael Canaris
	Wanted	Mr. X
2009	Darfur	Freddie Smith
	Jack Said	The Boss
2010	The Kid	Terry
	Golf in the Kingdom	Shivas Irons
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	Albert Runcorn
2011	Cowboys & Aliens	Pat Dolan
	Whole Lotta Sole	Mad Dog Flynn
2012	Contraband	Jim Church
	Best Laid Plans	Curtis
2013	The Groundsman	Keith
2014	Reach Me	Thumper
2015	The Messenger	DCI Keane
2016	Dias Santana	Calum Mackie
	The Rising	James Connolly
	Dirt Road to Lafayette	Tom
2017	In Extremis	Alex
2019	Cold Pursuit	Sly
	The Professor and the Madman	Church
2022	DEUS: The Dark Sphere	Ulph
2024	Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1	Bowler Hat Surveyor

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	One by One	Andy	3 episodes
1990	Taggart	Malcolm Durie	Episode: "Evil Eye Part One"
1991	Chimera	Reynolds	2 episodes
	Jute City	Duncan Kerr	3 episodes
1990–92	Screen Two	Michael / Ronnie Wilson	2 episodes
1993	Full Stretch	Steve Bissell	Episode: "Ivory Tower"
1994	Grushko	Lev	2 episodes
	The Tales of Para Handy	Robert Grant	Episode: "The End of the World"
	Open Fire	Armed Robber	Television film
1996	Prime Suspect	DS Rankine	2 episodes
1997	Oliver Twist	Bill Sikes	Television film
1999	Jesus	John the Baptist
2000	Donovan Quick	Clive
2000–01	The District	Det. Danny 'Mac' McGregor
2001	Crossfire Trail	Rock Mullaney
2004	Pulling Moves	Nuts & Bolts	Episode: "All Day Long"
2005	The Commander	DCC Stephen 'Blackdog' Blackton	Television film
2007	Damage	John Ward
2008	Trial & Retribution	DI Jack Mullins	Episode: "The Box: Part 1"
2010	The Tudors	Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey	9 episodes
2012	Covert Affairs	Dmitri Larionov	Episode: "Let's Dance"
2013	Luther	DSU George Stark	4 episodes
2015	Gotham	Reggie Payne	2 episodes
2017	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Alistair Fitz	3 episodes

References

1. David O'Hara Biography (1965–) at Filmreference.com
2. "The Departed". Warner Bros. 28 November 2006.
3. David O'Hara set for "The Tudors" Archived 22 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine. MovieWeb

External links

• David O'Hara at IMDb