Joseph Tomelty
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| Born | (1911-03-05)5 March 1911
Portaferry, County Down, Ireland
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| Died | 7 June 1995(1995-06-07) (aged 84)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
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| Years active | 1947–1964 |
| Spouse |
Lena Milligan
(m. 1942) |
| Children | 2, including Frances Tomelty |
| Family | Joe Sumner (grandson) |
Joseph Tomelty (5 March 1911 – 7 June 1995)[1] was an Irish actor, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and theatre manager. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage,[2] starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play Over the Bridge.
Born in Portaferry in 1911, he was the son of James Tomelty, a skilled fiddler who was nicknamed "Rollicking"; and the brother of Peter Tomelty, a tenor and recording artist.[1] Tomelty's exposure to music at a young age influenced his work as a playwright, with several of his stage works being named after songs, including The Singing Bird (1948), Down the Heather Glen (1953) and The Drunken Sailor (1954).[1]
Tomelty was a co-founder, in 1940,of the Group Theatre in Belfast, and served as its general manager until 1951.[3]
He married Lena Milligan in 1942.[4] They had two daughters together: Frances Tomelty is an actress and the first wife of singer and musician Sting; while Roma Tomelty (d. 22 April 2020) was also an actress.[2]
Tumelty's family-based radio sitcom The McCooeys was first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in Northern Ireland on 14 May 1949, becoming the region's most listened-to programme over the next six years. Centre Stage Theatre Company, co-founded by his daughter Roma and her husband Colin Carnegie, revived four of the episodes in a stage version, directed by Michael Quinn and performed in the refurbished Grand Opera House Studio Theatre in February 2022.
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