Who is Brían F. O’Byrne? Little Boy Blue actor who won a 2018 TV Bafta Award playing Rhys Jones’ dad Steve
BRÍAN F. O'Byrne played Rhys Jones's dad Steve in ITV true crime drama Little Boy Blue.
But what do we know about the actor? What is the drama about? And what else has he starred in? Here's all you need to know:
Who is Brian O'Byrne?
Brían F. O'Byrne is an Emmy-nominated Irish actor and is married to actress Heather Goldenhersh, who he has two daughters with.
He moved to New York City in 1990, where he took part in several stage shows and was nominated for several Tony awards.
The actor has been engaged once prior to marrying Heather to former girlfriend Amy Ryan.
Who did Brian O'Byrne play in Little Boy Blue?
Brian O'Byrne played Rhys Jones' father Steve in the tragic drama based on real life events.
Steve and his wife have previously voiced their support of the production, saying: “We wanted to get involved in this drama because we thought it was important for people to understand what really happened.
“How close Rhys’s murderer came to escaping justice, and how in the end the simple courage shown by some of those involved in these events, and their refusal to be intimidated, led to the conviction of Sean Mercer and others involved in Rhys’s murder.
“The part Merseyside Police and especially Detective Superintendent Dave Kelly played in this cannot be over-estimated.
“But beyond this we wanted to show the devastating effect the loss of our beloved son Rhys had on our family, and how the grieving process affected us long beyond the ‘closure’ of a guilty verdict.”
What is Little Boy Blue about?
Little Boy Blue follows the fight to bring Rhys’ murderers to justice in the weeks and months after his tragic death.
Rhys Jones was just 11 when he was senselessly killed while walking across a pub car park in Liverpool in August 2007.
The sports mad youngster was heading home alone after football practice at 7.30pm in broad daylight when a hooded youth cycled by and fired three shots from a handgun.
One struck Rhys in the back and his distraught mother Melanie rushed to the scene when she heard what had happened.
Paramedics tried for over an hour and a half to save Rhys, but he was later pronounced dead at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
After months of investigations and arrests, 18-year-old Sean Mercer – a member of the Croxteth Crew gang – was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 22 years.
The four-part series focuses on the police investigation carried out by Merseyside Police and the production has the support of Rhys’ parents Melanie and Steve.
The drama has been written by BAFTA award-winning screenwriter and executive producer Jeff Pope.
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What else has Brían F. O'Byrne starred in?
Brían F. O'Byrne has starred in a number of films, TV series and stage productions since his career began in 1976.
In 2011 he was nominated for an Emmy for his role as Bert Pierce in Mildred Pierce.
He has also been nominated for five Tonys, one of which he won in 2004 for Best Featured Actor in a Play in Frozen.
Brían also played Detective Reg Duffy in Prime Suspect USA from 2011 to 2012 and most recently Mayakovsky in TV series The Magicians.