Award-winning actor Michael Patrick – who appeared in Game of Thrones and BBC’s Blue Lights – has died aged 35.
Award-winning actor Michael Patrick – who appeared in Game of Thrones and BBC’s Blue Lights – has died aged 35.
The Irish theatre star, also known as Michael Patrick Campbell, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in February 2023, but went on to create and star in an adaptation of The Tragedy of Richard III where the titular character also had MND and used a wheelchair. He won a gong at The Stage Awards last year for his performance.
Patrick’s wife Naomi announced on social media on Wednesday (8 April) that he had died the day before in the Northern Ireland Hospice after being admitted 10 days earlier.
“He passed peacefully surrounded by family and friends,” she wrote. “Words can’t describe how broken-hearted we are.
“It’s been said more than once that Mick was an inspiration to everyone who was privileged enough to come into contact with him, not just in the past few years during his illness but in every day of his life. He lived a life as full as any human can live. Joy, abundance of spirit, infectious laughter. A titan of a ginger-haired man.”
She ended her post with a quote from Irish poet Brendan Behan, writing: “’The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and somebody to love you.’ So, don’t overthink it. Eat. Drink. Love.”
Patrick played a Wildling Rioter in Game of Thrones in one of his first TV roles in 2016, before appearing in drama The Spectacular, BBC One’s Blue Lights, Steven Knight’s This Town and BBC Three’s My Left Nut – which he also co-wrote.
In 2024, he played the lead role in The Tragedy of Richard III in a wheelchair at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, portraying him as a royal with Motor Neurone Disease. He went on to win the Judges’ Award at the Stage Awards in January last year.
Paying tribute to Patrick, executive producer Jimmy Fay at the Lyric Theatre Belfast said that the theatre community had “lost a great artist”. He added: “He used the slings and arrows of the outrageous fortune thrown at him and turned them into visceral and vibrant art.”
Among those who remembered Patrick were Saturday Night Live UK star George Fouracres, with the pair studying together at Cambridge University. “He was one of the greatest human beings I ever shared my time with here on this planet,” Fouracres wrote.
“He stars in nearly all of the most carefree memories in my head; he was hilarious, wise, kind, pure mischief, and beloved of everyone who encountered him.”
Patrick is survived by his wife Naomi, his mother Pauline, his siblings Kate, Maurice and Hannah, and his nephew Micheál.