Life
1925-2004; b. Derry; master of pantomime and
comedy at Olympia and other theatres, up to 1987; junior All-Ireland Irish dancing champion at seven; performed for a week in Derry’s Colmcille Hall for a fee of 7s. 6p.; toured Britain with Jack Hylton’s band in the 1930s; appeared before Hitler in Berlin; connected with the Gaiety Theatre from 1939, especially in pantos, working at first with Jimmie O’Dea and later in Gaels of Laughter; partnered by Danny Cummins, 1980; worked in TV; played Maisie Madigan in Juno and the Paycock, with Donal McCann and John Kavanagh (Gate 1986); last appeared on “Late Late Show” (RTÉ) to mark the 100th anniversary of the Abbey Theatre; d. 7 April 2004, at home in Clontarf, Co. Dublin, aetat. 79; a tribute volume was edited by Deirdre Purcell (2004).
Works
Tommy the Theatre Cat [1985; rep. edn.] (Dublin: O’Brien Press 2005), 78pp., ill. by David Rooney.
Criticism
Deirdre Purcell, ed., Be Delighted: A Tribute to Maureen Potter (Dublin: New Island Books 2004), 269pp. [contrib. Phyllis Ryan; Gene Kerrigan, Bertie Ahern, Maeve Binchy, Gay Byrne, Joe Duffy, Joe Dowling, Frank McGuinness, Fred O’Donovan, Fintan O’Toole and Nuala O’Faolain.]
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