Tommy Tiernan Show recap: Bryan Murray and Una Crawford O'Brien on Fair City, acting and Alzheimer's
Brian Murray and Una Crawford O'Brien: 'I can see the two of us going [on Fair City] for as long as they will have us — actors don't retire
Fair City star Bryan Murray opened up about his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in August last year and he and his real-life partner and on-screen wife Una Crawford O’Brien joined the Tommy Tiernan Show on Saturday night to provide an update on his health, his acting career and how their lives have changed.
Murray plays Bob Charles in the popular soap and he says RTÉ has been “incredibly supportive”, proving assistance to him on set as he finds it difficult now to retain lines from a script.
“I had the key to the door, if you like,” he said, describing a recent moment while filming.
“I had an earpiece that went all the way down my back into the back of my trousers. The person that I'm doing the scene with, after they're finished, I’d be fed the line that I'm next to say, and I got used to it and it was as easy as pie. It’s the key in the door now, thank goodness.”
Crawford O’Brien says she sees a long career still ahead of them in Fair City. “I can see the two of us going for as long as they will have us — actors don't retire.”
Murray added that Crawford O’Brien has been “an absolute bedrock” of support for him, both professionally and personally.
“I don't know what I would have done for the last while without her but she has been fantastic right along the line of it and I'm incredibly grateful.”
Fair City’s Bryan Murray chats to @tommedian about being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and his journey from being an apprentice electrician to actor#TommyTiernanShow pic.twitter.com/1WBRjwc2V8
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) February 4, 2023
Crawford O’Brien says she is reluctant to call herself Murray’s carer but describes her role as “minding him”. However, she says there is a history of Alzheimer's and dementia in her own family and she fears what would happen if she receives a similar diagnosis someday.
“I’m afraid that I’ll get it,” she admits. “It's a scary thing. It's scary because you know what the future holds, really. And it's okay, we laugh about it as well.”
She says they spoke publicly about their situation “to let people know that it's not the end of the road for if you get a diagnosis of dementia, that you can keep going. You don't have to give up life just because you have dementia. You can get out there and you can work. More people might see that they can facilitate people who have it in ways that they never thought of before.”
Murray reflected on his long acting history, describing how he started with the Abbey Theatre on his 21st birthday, while Crawford O’Brien noted the tragic catalyst to her own professional career.
“I taught speech and drama for a number of years. I was very happy amateur for years,” she says. “ My daughter died, I had a cot death. I thought I'd never act again. I thought, ‘the cheek of me thinking I could get up on stage and entertain people, this was far too frivolous’.
“And yet it was what saved me. I realised I have to give this a go and try to do what I want to do every day of my life for the rest of my life and become a professional actor. I said I'd give myself three years, and I did and here I am.”
Tiernan was also joined by actress Ruth Codd, who plays Anya in The Midnight Club. She spoke about how her comedy videos on TikTok led to an audition invitation from Netflix, and she described needing an amputation years after breaking her leg as a teenager and why she does not see herself as ‘disabled’.
“I never say ‘hi, I’m Ruth, I’m disabled’. It’s a small part of me,” she explains.
“I felt less disabled with a prosthetic leg than I did with the splint and when I was on crutches and in a wheelchair. I used to be embarrassed by the word, I suppose. It does pain me to say this, but I was ashamed. I didn't like being called disabled.
“It took me a long time to accept that it's just a small part of me. It's not who I am. If people want to use the word disabled or differently abled or whatever, I'm at a point now where I'm like, us whatever word you want — I'm Ruth.”
Finally, mythologist and author Martin Shaw joined the host to discuss storytelling and tradition. He said he was first drawn to storytelling when his father would share fairy tales with him, and those stories took on deeper meaning as he aged.
“A good story will move with you through the decades. It'll keep changing and keep deepening as you do,” he explains.
To revive and develop storytelling skills in the modern age, Shaw urged viewers to “rescue thrown away stories that other people tell you”.
