Irish actor portrays roving Columbus

Press, 10 January 1987, Page 15

Irish actor portrays roving Columbus

"Christopher Columbus,” starring the handsome Irish actor, Gabriel Byrne, in the title role, is a six-hour mini-series dramatising the life of the Genoa-born seaman who sailed west to find Asia and found instead the West Indies and South America. Also starring with Byrne are Rossano Brazzi, Faye Dunaway, Virna Lisi, Oliver Reed, Raff Vallone, Max Von Sydow, Eli Wallach and Nicol Williamson. The two-part miniseries, which starts on Tuesday evening, will detail Columbus’s early years as an expert sailor and navigator; his frustrating attempts to win support for his voyages west; and finally, the journeys themselves, during which he faces the perils of the sea, mutinous crews, and both the treasures and trials of new peoples in the New World. It also dramatises his courtship and marriage tb the young aristocratic Dona Felipa Perestrello; his subsequent liaison with the orphaned peasant girl, Beatriz Enriquez; and his relationship with his two children as he pursued the mission for which he believed he was destined: to convert the peoples of the East to Christianity and to bring wealth to Spain. Byrne spent seven months away from home on location in three countries for a complex, demanding role that would bring him before the American television public for the first time.

“Rarely does an actor get a chance for worldwide exposure in a role

that allows him to go from age 26 to 54 and to do in a film almost everything a man does in his lifetime,” said Byrne in Malta, sitting in full costume not far from his flagship, the Santa Maria, which had been specially recreated for the film. The challenge was to take Byrne not only to Malta, but to Spain and the Dominican Republic, where he would spend some 15 hours a day delving into the famous fifteenth century explorer whose voyages west

changed the course of history. Byrne starred as the Israeli intelligence officer in the Costa-Gavras film, “Hanna K.” He also played a Nazi villain in the Michael Mann film, "The Keep;” appeared as King Arthur’s father in. “Excalibur,” directed by John Boorman, and starred in “The History Lesson,” directed by Kevin Billington.

The former school teacher gained a taste for acting after performing in

a local production of “Coriolanus.” He went on to appear as a laconic, cynical Irishman in the Irish television series, “The Riordans,” and soon after had his own spin-off series, “Bracken.” A leading role in “The Liberty Suit” at Dublin’s Project Theatre led to an invitation to join the prestigious Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s state company. Byrne also appeared on 8.8. C Television and performed with Britain’s National Theatre Company in “Translations.” He stars in the coming mini-series, “Mussolini,” with George C. Scott, and in the theatrical film, “Defense of the Realm.” Faye Dunaway is Queen Isabella of Spain, whose belief in, and support of the young seaman changed the course of history. Miss Dunaway began her acting career in 1962 with New York’s Lincoln Center Repertory Company. Her performance in an off-Broadway production of “Hogan’s Goat” led to her 1965 screen debut in “The Happening.” She was nominated for an

Academy Award in 1967 for her performance as Bonnie Parker in “Bonnie and Clyde,” and again in 1974 for “Chinatown.” She won the Oscar in 1976 for her performance in “Network.”

Virna Lisi appears as Dona Moniz, a member of a prominent Portuguese family and the widowed mother of Columbus’ young wife, Dona Felipa. Miss Lisi came to the attention of the film-going public in 1965 when she burst out of a cake, clad in a bikini in “How to Murder Your Wife,” a comedy starring Jack Lemmon. The glamorous Italian has been the star of more than 30 films. The British actor, Oliver Reed, portrays Martin Pinzon, a sea captain and ship owner.