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Brendan Coyle

Actor, ProducerBorn December 2, 1963 (61 years)
Brendan Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is a British-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for The Weir in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries North & South, Robert Timmins in the first three series of Lark Rise to Candleford, and more recently Mr Bates, the valet, in Downton Abbey, which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Brendan Coyle was born David Coyle in Corby, Northamptonshire, on 2 December 1962, the son of a Patrick B Coyle and Bedelia M B Anderson. He has an older brother named Shaun Due to his British birth and Irish heritage, he holds both British and Irish citizenship. He is the great-nephew of football manager Sir Matt Busby. He studied drama in Dublin in 1981 and received a scholarship to Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London in 1983.

Coyle received a Laurence Olivier Award in 1999 for his performance in Conor McPherson's The Weir and won a New York Critics Theater World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut for the same play in its New York production. In 2001, Coyle appeared in the film Conspiracy as Gestapo Chief Heinrich Müller. He played Kaz Sweeney in the British drama True Dare Kiss, and Nicholas Higgins in North & South for the BBC.

From 2008 he played Robert Timmins in three BBC series based on the Lark Rise to Candleford novels, written by Flora Thompson. In 2010, he began playing John Bates, valet and former British Army batman to the Earl of Grantham in Julian Fellowes's period drama series, Downton Abbey. Fellowes wrote the part for Coyle, and it won him nominations for a BAFTA and IFTA as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Awards as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2012. He also won three Screen Actors Guild Awards 2013–16. Coyle also played the character of Terry Starling in the short-lived Sky comedy series Starlings.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • The Raven
  • Shameless
  • Prime Suspect
  • The General
  • Perrier's Bounty
  • Blue Murder (UK)
  • Noble
  • The Mark of Cain
  • Catherine Cookson's The Glass Virgin
  • Amnesia
  • Jericho (2005)

Known For

  • Me Before You
  • Downton Abbey
  • Downton Abbey
  • The Jacket
  • The Raven
  • Conspiracy
  • North & South
  • Lark Rise to Candleford
  • Requiem
  • Toxic Town
  • Offside
  • Spotless
  • Perrier's Bounty
  • Riches
  • The Mark of Cain
  • Noble
  • Catherine Cookson's The Glass Virgin

Featured Videos

    Filmography

    2025
    2025
    Toxic Town (TV Series) · as Roy Thomas
    2024
    Finders Keepers (2024) (TV Series) · as Denys Elland
    2022
    Riches (TV Series) · as Gideon
    2022
    Downton Abbey: A New Era · as John Bates
    2021
    The Red Orchestra · as Narrator
    2019
    Downton Abbey · as John Bates
    2018
    Mary Queen of Scots · as Earl Of Lennox
    2018
    Requiem (TV Series) · as Stephen Kendrick
    2016
    2016
    Me Before You: Deleted Scenes · as Bernard Clark
    2016
    Me Before You · as Bernard Clark
    2015
    2015
    Spotless (TV Series) · as Nelson Clay
    2015
    12 Monkeys (TV Series) · as Benjamin Kalman
    2014
    Text Santa 2014 · as John Bates (segment "downton Abbey")
    2014
    Noble · as Gerry Shaw
    2013
    Common Ground (TV Series) · as Dci Cockburn
    2012
    Starlings (TV Series)
    2012
    The Raven · as Reagan
    2011
    North & South: Deleted Scenes · as Nicholas Higgins
    2010
    Downton Abbey (TV Series) · as John Bates
    2009
    2008
    Lark Rise to Candleford (TV Series) · as Robert Timmins
    2008
    Murdoch Mysteries (TV Series) · as Rankin
    2007
    The Mark of Cain · as Davey Gulliver
    2007
    True Dare Kiss (TV Series) · as Kaz Sweeney
    2007
    Damage · as Aidan Cahill
    2007
    The Good Samaritan · as Lewis Farrell
    2007
    Inspector George Gently (TV Series) · as Patrick Donovan
    2007
    Wedding Belles · as Father Henry
    2006
    2006
    Offside · as Duncan Miller
    2006
    Soundproof · as Di Dave Cox
    2006
    The Commander: Blacklight · as Carl Dirkwood
    2005
    The Ghost Squad (TV Series)
    2005
    Jericho (2005) (TV Series) · as Christie
    2005
    The Jacket · as Damon
    2004
    North & South (TV Series) · as Nicholas Higgins
    2004
    Omagh · as Detective Sergeant John White
    2004
    Amnesia (TV Series) · as D.c. Ian Reid
    2004
    Shameless (TV Series) · as Father Polish
    2003
    Blue Murder (UK) (TV Series) · as Derek Jowell
    2003
    The Commander (TV Series)
    2003
    New Tricks (TV Series) · as Hanson Henchman With Short Hair
    2001
    Mapmaker · as Robert Bates
    2001
    Conspiracy · as Heinrich Müller
    2001
    The Bombmaker · as George Mcevoy
    2001
    The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (TV Series) · as Richard Tey
    2001
    Rebel Heart (TV Series) · as Michael Collins
    2000
    Paths to Freedom (TV Series)
    2000
    Waking the Dead (TV Series) · as Martin Corgan
    1999
    OK! TV (TV Series) · as John Bates
    1999
    I Could Read the Sky · as Francie
    1998
    The General · as Uvf Leader
    1998
    1997
    Tomorrow Never Dies · as Hms Bedford Leading Seaman
    1996
    Silent Witness (TV Series) · as Liam Slattery
    1995
    Thief Takers (TV Series) · as Ds Bob Tate
    1995
    Dangerfield (TV Series)
    1995
    Catherine Cookson's The Glass Virgin (TV Series) · as Manuel Mendoza
    1993
    1991
    Prime Suspect (TV Series) · as Dcs Mitchell
    1984
    The Bill (TV Series)

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