Aiden Grennell, who died on January 13th, was born in Dublin on January 10th, 1920, the only child of Aiden Peter Joseph and Stella Mary (nee O'Donovan). His family moved to Derry when his father was appointed manager of the Hibernian Bank there. He attended St Columb's College as a day pupil, proceeding in 1932 to Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare.
He subsequently enrolled at an agricultural college in Co Wexford. Not finding the regime congenial, and feeling drawn towards the theatre, he undertook the aspiring actor's round of auditions and was cast in supporting roles with several freelance companies in Dublin. He joined the ENSA theatre company which toured army, navy and air force bases in the North during the early years of the second World War.
He was a member of EdwardsMacLiammoir Productions when Louis Elliman invited that company to move from the Gate Theatre to the Gaiety to provide the kind of lavishly-costumed presentations which could no longer be obtained from the West End because of war-time restrictions. Then, in 1945, he toured with EdwardsMacLiammoir under the auspices of the Northern Ireland Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts. The Derry Standard proudly noted his success in Othello, Where Stars Walk and A Hundred Years Old.
While still in his 20s, Aiden Grennell became a member of Longford Productions, the company organised and funded by Edward, Sixth Earl of Longford, which was resident at the Gate Theatre during the summer, touring in Ireland and Britain in the winter months.
Monthly repertory, with its rigorous discipline and challenging variety of parts to be studied, turned out to be the best training any actor could wish for. In the 1950s, Aiden Grennell came into his own as an actor of extreme finesse, delighting audiences in classical and modern roles in which his expansive vocal range, clarity of delivery, and what appeared as effortless physical control, were paramount. His natural gift for comedy emerged at this time.
It was while he was with the Longford company that he met his future wife, the actress Iris Lawler. They became engaged while performing in Salisbury, and were married in 1949.
Among Aiden Grennell's most admired stage roles were the eponymous tyrant in Moliere's Tartuffe, and a hilarious Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (both Longford Productions), Charles ll in Desmond Forristal's historical morality The True Story of the Horrid Popish Plot (for EdwardsMacLiammoir) and the Emperor Joseph ll in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus for the present Gate Theatre management.
His distinctive farcical creations included De Selby in Flann O'Brien's When The Saints Come Cycling In, adapted by Hugh Leonard from The Dalkey Archive, at the Gate; Sir Francis Chesney in Charley's Aunt for Des Keogh Productions, also at the Gate; the Pope in Flann O'Brien's The Hard Life at the Abbey; and Ed McKeever in The Solid Gold Cadillac by Kaufmann and Teichman for Alan Simpson and Carolyn Swift's Pike Theatre company at the Gate.
In 1962, shortly after the death of Edward Longford, Aiden Grennell joined the RTE Players. His voice then became known in every household in the land - by turns debonair, sepulchral, testy, declamatory, querulous, regal, conspiratorial, sarcastic, gracious. He was heard in hundreds of plays, readings and comedy series - among the most outstanding were the title role in Macbeth, and the abridgment of Bram Stoker's Dracula. E Players, he was instrumental in re-forming Longford Productions, with the actors David Kelly and Ronnie Walsh. Lacking an administrative base, the venture did not prosper, but the productions were well received and Aiden Grennell was universally praised for Pinter's No Man's Land and Chekhov's Three Sisters.
He also appeared in numerous television plays and films, including the leading parts in The Scythe and the Sunset by Denis Johnston, and Dr Knock by Jules Romains. One of his last appearances was a particularly moving cameo performance as Michael Bradley in Ballykissangel.
His final performance was as Lane in The Importance of Being Earnest, transmitted on RTE Radio 1 last autumn as part of the Oscar Wilde centenary celebrations - a play in which he had appeared most memorably as Algy at the Gate half a century before.
He is remembered in the profession as a supremely dedicated, generous and witty colleague. In his mature years he approached each new role with the enthusiasm, energy and respect of a gifted young performer at his first engagement.
Aiden Grennell is survived by his wife, Iris Lawler, daughter Mariana (McConnell), and by his sons, Michael and Nicholas.
Aiden Vernon Grennell: born 1920; died, January 2001