Colm Meaney is an actor from Ireland. He is famous for his role as Miles O’Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). He has also been in other TV shows like Law & Order and The Simpsons, and he played Thomas C. Durant on Hell on Wheels (2011–2016).
In movies, Meaney has been in films like Layer Cake, The Damned United, and the film adaptations of Roddy Doyle’s The Barrytown Trilogy. He won Best Actor IFTA in 2017 for his role as Martin McGuinness in The Journey. In 2020, he was named one of Ireland’s greatest film actors by The Irish Times.
Meaney was born in Finglas, Dublin, and started acting at 14. He joined the Abbey Theatre School of Acting and worked in England for eight years with various theater groups.
His acting career started on TV in 1978 on Z-Cars. He appeared in shows like Remington Steele and Moonlighting before becoming a successful film actor. He got a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for his role in The Snapper.
Meaney first appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 and later moved to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine until 1999. He holds the second-highest number of appearances in the Star Trek franchise.
In his personal life, Meaney was married to Irish actress Bairbre Dowling in 1977, and they had a daughter named Brenda. They divorced in 1994. He later married French costume designer Ines Glorian in 2007, and they have a daughter born in 2005. They live in Sóller, Majorca.
Meaney supports Sinn Féin.