Ben Keaton, 1956 – 2026

Irish actor Ben Keaton, 69, died on March 20. The Dublin native was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2000 for his role in Animal Crackers, also appearing onstage in American Buffalo, Harvey, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Hay Fever. He was also a stand-up comic, both touring and heading up the revue Ben Keaton & Friends. Keaton was a regular on TV’s Casualty and Hububb, and did one-offs on Father Ted, Doctors, TV Burp, and The Bill, as well as the films East is East and Love Bite. He and his son ran a production company, their educational The I Am Project being shown in schools around the UK. Keaton said in 2014 that “I've had a long career and gone from one thing to another; it's just what happens if you carry on being creative. If I had nothing else to choose from, I would write. But for me, what really brings life to all the work is to mix. So I can work with dance companies, and I work with physical theatre companies and actors and young actors and film and everything. It's the variety that I find exciting, but the thing that can underline it is writing.”