Brendan Coyle stars in "Downton Abbey" on PBS as Lord Grantham's valet, John Bates. Series creator Julian Fellowes knew he would be perfect for the part. "I wrote John Bates for Brendan. I knew he had the capacity to suggest a character's bitter and painful past without doing much to indicate it," Fellowes said. "Above all, he never asks for sympathy as an actor, and consequently he gets it."
Born to a Scottish mother and Irish father, Brendan Coyle lived in Dublin and London during his youth.
Born to a Scottish mother and Irish father, Brendan Coyle lived in Dublin and London during his youth.
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With no thought of an acting career, Coyle worked in his dad's butcher shop after leaving school. It wasn't until his father died that he sought a change. Inspired by a Shakespeare production that he'd seen in school, Coyle contacted an Irish aunt who he knew ran a theater company and was soon enrolled in drama school in Dublin. Now a veteran of the British stage, Coyle has appeared in many television dramas including BBC's "North and South," "Lark Rise to Candleford" and on "Masterpiece" in "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" and ITV's "Jericho."Brendan Coyle Downton Abbey Brendan Coyle Downton Abbey Brendan Coyle Downton Abbey Brendan Coyle Downton Abbey Brendan Coyle Downton Abbey Brendan Coyle Downton Abbey Brendan Coyle Pictures
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