Alan O'Neill

Irish actor Alan O'Neill found success on both sides of the Atlantic before his untimely death cut his career short. A native of County Dublin, he began his onscreen career in the Irish Civil War TV movie "Ballyseedy" (1997), playing Captain Jim Clarke. He followed with another military role in the similarly themed miniseries "Rebel Heart" (2001). After a guest role on the short-lived Mark Valley-Sienna Miller crime show "Keen Eddie" (Fox, 2003-04), he scored a supporting role in Marian Quinn's film "32A" (2007). His big break came when he was cast as Keith McGrath in the long-running Irish soap opera "Fair City" (RTE, 1989-), a run that would last six years. While working on the show, he took guest roles in "Inspector George Gently" (BBC, 2007-17) and J.J. Abrams' "Undercovers" (NBC, 2010). He once again returned to familiar territory when he played a Northern Ireland police officer during The Troubles in the drama "Shadow Dancer" (2012), starring Clive Owens and Gillian Anderson. His American exposure exploded when he joined the cast of the hit drama "Sons of Anarchy" (FX, 2008-14). O'Neill played Hugh, a former True IRA member whose gun-running brings him into contact with the show's motorcycle gangs. During his run on "Sons" the actor filmed a guest role on the Adult Swim parody show "Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories" (Cartoon Network, 2013-). He last appeared on screen in the thriller "Urge" (2016), opposite Pierce Brosnan. The actor was found dead in his Los Angeles area home on June 6, 2018; the coroner's report later stated that O'Neill died in a fall while intoxicated. At the time of his death, O'Neill was scheduled to appear in the horror film "Charlie Lives: The Family's Return" about teenagers being terrorized by former members of the Manson Family.