This handsome, aquiline-featured actor moved from his native Northern Ireland to London, where he got his dramatic schooling and made his film debut in the short "Unusual Ground Floor Conversation" (1987). Dunbar appeared in many stage productions ("Real Dreams", "The Danton Affair", "Ourselves Along", "Pope's Wedding" and "By the Border") while also building up his films credits. He appeared in supporting roles in the British-made dramas "A World Apart" and "The Dawning" (both 1988), played one of Daniel Day-Lewis' many brothers in "My Left Foot" (1989), and began earning larger roles in the dramas "Dealers" and "Drowning in the Shallow End" (both British-made, 1989). Dunbar made his bow as a screenwriter (co-authoring with director Peter Chelsom) with the pleasantly whimsical Anglo-Irish comedy "Hear My Song" (1991), based on the real-life case of Josef Locke. He also co-starred, as a somewhat inept con artist and nightclub owner who reforms by going on an earnest quest for a tax-evading tenor. Dunbar appeared with Aidan Quinn and Robin Wright in "The Playboys" (1992) and was critically lauded as a determined IRA assassin in Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game" (1992). He courted Natasha Richardson in "Widow's Peak" (1994) and appeared in three 1995 releases, "Cruel Train", "Innocent Lies" and the 1930s-era "Richard III".
On TV, Dunbar has appeared in the seventh "Inspector Morse" installment (PBS, 1994), the A&E movie "Cracker: The Mad Woman in the Attic" (1994) and as Emma Thompson's unsympathetic husband in the ghostly "The Blue Boy" (PBS, 1994).
Profession(s):
Actor, screenwriter, musician
Sometimes Credited As:
2007 Co-starred in the indie film, "Eye of the Dolphin"
2005 Appeared in the re-staging of "The Quatermass Experiment" (BBC4)
2002 Was featured in "Shooters" with Gerard Butler and Matthew Rhys
2001 Co-starred with Colm Meaney, playing a pub owner and storekeeper, in "How Harry Became a Tree"
2000 Reteamed with Brendan Gleeson for "Wild About Harry"
1998 Co-starred with Brendan Gleeson in "The General", about real life Irish criminal Martin Cahill
1997 Supported Jennifer Ehle in the British miniseries "Melissa"
1995 Portrayed Tyrell in Richard Loncraine's modern-day adaptation of "Richard III", featuring Ian McKellen
1994 Appeared in the feature "Widow's Peak"
1994 Co-starred in the TV production "The Blue Boy", featuring Emma Thompson
1992 Co-starred in "The Crying Game"
1992 Had supporting role in "The Playboys"
1991 First leading role in "Hear My Song"; also co-wrote screenplay with director Peter Chelsom
1988 Played first notable feature film role in "A World Apart"
1987 Acted in the short film, "Unusual Ground Floor Conversation"
1985 Met Peter Chelsom in Liverpool when both were members of the Royal Court Theater Company
