Eileen O'Brien

Acting

Eileen O'Brien

Born 1945-12-04 · Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Eileen O'Brien is an English actress who has played a wide variety of roles in British television over many years. She appeared in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Beattie Dixon in 2013, having previously appeared in the show as teacher Bridget Burgess from 2006 to 2007. From 1987 to 1988, O'Brien had a recurring role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders; she played Edie Smith, the mother of Mary Smith (Linda Davidson). O'Brien has also appeared in The Crezz, Casualty, Doctors, The Royal, Where the Heart Is, Brookside, Heartbeat and Coronation Street. She later appeared in several films, including Between Two Women in 2000. In May 2009, she played Anne in the BBC miniseries Moving On. In 2013, she played Rita in the BBC comedy-drama Being Eileen. In January 2020, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Jean Wadham.

Acting credits

Macbeth poster
6.0

Counted among his greatest tragedies, Shakespeare’s unsettling combination of warring soldiers and ‘weird sisters’ is brought to life in this post-apocalyptic reimagining of the Scottish play. This production, directed by Gemma Bodinetz and starring David Morrissey in the title role, was captured by Digital Theatre live at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Macbeth

2011

A Private Function poster
6.4

In the summer of 1947, Britain prepares to commemorate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. To get around food-rationing laws, Dr. Charles Swaby, accountant Henry Allardyce and solicitor Frank Lockwood are fattening a black-market pig for the big day. Egged on by his wife, meek Gilbert Chilvers steals the swine, but the couple must conceal it from inspector Morris Wormold.

A Private Function

1984

Runners poster
5.4

When his young daughter disappears, her father refuses to accept that she is dead and sets out on a journey to find her.

Runners

1983

Fanny & Elvis poster
6.4

Yorkshire writer Kate finds out her biological clock is ticking down the same day that her husband leaves her. To get over the financial crisis this creates she takes in car-dealer Dave. He's homeless as Kate's husband has moved in with his wife. This leaves the problem of how to get promptly pregnant. Surely not with increasingly interesting Dave. They can't even agree on a baby's name - he thinks Fanny is silly and she finds Elvis, well, inconceivable.

Fanny & Elvis

1999

Lennon Naked poster
5.5

A profile of John Lennon in the late 1960s as the Beatles are set to fall apart.

Lennon Naked

2010

The Last Vampyre poster
7.0

Sherlock Holmes investigates strange and tragic happenings in a village that appear linked to a man who seems to be like a vampire.

The Last Vampyre

1993

A Month in the Country poster
6.5

A destitute WWI veteran is hired to help carry out restoration work on a medieval mural in a rural Yorkshire church. While living in the quiet village, he forms a close friendship with an archaeologist and begins to come to terms with his trauma.

A Month in the Country

1987

Betty and Jean poster
NR

80-year-old Betty waits for her true love, Jean. She remembers their painful break-up in 1960’s Liverpool. She wasn’t brave enough to be with a woman. Will their love be rekindled?

Betty and Jean

2023

Angels poster
9.0

Three guardian angels help three souls evaluate their past lives.

Angels

1992

Between Two Women poster
5.4

Set in a Yorkshire milltown in 1957, Ellen Hardy is unhappily married but is close to her ten-year-old son, Victor. The family has recently moved house and Victor has started at a new school where Ellen has become friendly with his teacher, Kathy Thompson, who is keen to encourage him at art. As the friendship between the two women grows, Ellen's millworker husband, Hardy, feels increasingly alienated at home.

Between Two Women

2004

Sybil poster
5.8

Sybil works at an undertakers. It’s a lonely job, with few perks, so she takes solace where she can…

Sybil

2018

Before Dawn poster
4.5

An estranged couple's vacation to save their troubled relationship goes awry when they find themselves under attack from the walking dead

Before Dawn

2013

Majority poster
NR

Single mother and immigrant Sonia Diaconescu works at a sheltered accommodation scheme. A resident of the scheme has made an official complaint against her, rousing the elderly community into a mob of angry and fearful citizens whose intolerance is palpable.

Majority

2020