Brendan Coyle

Born

December 2, 1963 (61 years old)

Known For

Acting

Place of Birth

Corby, Northamptonshire, England, UK

Brendan Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is a British-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for The Weir in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries North & South, Robert Timmins in the first three series of Lark Rise to Candleford, and more recently Mr Bates, the valet, in Downton Abbey, which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Brendan Coyle was born David Coyle in Corby, Northamptonshire, on 2 December 1962, the son of a Patrick B Coyle and Bedelia M B Anderson. He has an older brother named Shaun Due to his British birth and Irish heritage, he holds both British and Irish citizenship. He is the great-nephew of football manager Sir Matt Busby. He studied drama in Dublin in 1981 and received a scholarship to Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London in 1983.

Coyle received a Laurence Olivier Award in 1999 for his performance in Conor McPherson's The Weir and won a New York Critics Theater World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut for the same play in its New York production. In 2001, Coyle appeared in the film Conspiracy as Gestapo Chief Heinrich Müller. He played Kaz Sweeney in the British drama True Dare Kiss, and Nicholas Higgins in North & South for the BBC.

From 2008 he played Robert Timmins in three BBC series based on the Lark Rise to Candleford novels, written by Flora Thompson. In 2010, he began playing John Bates, valet and former British Army batman to the Earl of Grantham in Julian Fellowes's period drama series, Downton Abbey. Fellowes wrote the part for Coyle, and it won him nominations for a BAFTA and IFTA as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Awards as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2012. He also won three Screen Actors Guild Awards 2013–16. Coyle also played the character of Terry Starling in the short-lived Sky comedy series Starlings.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

John Bates

0.0

2025

Toxic Town

Toxic Town

Roy Thomas · (4 episodes)

7.0

2025

Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers

Denys Elland · (4 episodes)

5.8

2024

Riches

Riches

Gideon · (6 episodes)

6.7

2022

Downton Abbey: A New Era

Downton Abbey: A New Era

John Bates

7.2

2022

Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey

John Bates

7.1

2019

Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots

Earl of Lennox

6.6

2018

Requiem

Requiem

Stephen Kendrick · (6 episodes)

6.3

2018

Unless

Unless

4.8

2016

Saving Lives at Sea

Saving Lives at Sea

Self - Narrator · (4 episodes)

9.0

2016

Me Before You

Me Before You

Bernard Clark

7.9

2016

A Merry Murdoch Christmas

A Merry Murdoch Christmas

Rankin

7.6

2015

Spotless

Spotless

Nelson Clay · (10 episodes)

6.9

2015

12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys

Benjamin Kalman · (1 episode)

7.4

2015

Noble

Noble

Gerry Shaw

6.5

2014

Starlings

Starlings

(16 episodes)

7.0

2012

The Raven

The Raven

Reagan

6.3

2012

Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey

John Bates · (47 episodes)

8.1

2010

Perrier's Bounty

Perrier's Bounty

Jerome

5.8

2009

Lark Rise to Candleford

Lark Rise to Candleford

Robert Timmins · (40 episodes)

8.4

2008

The Mark of Cain

The Mark of Cain

Davey Gulliver

5.4

2007

True Dare Kiss

True Dare Kiss

Kaz Sweeney · (6 episodes)

7.0

2007

Damage

Damage

Aidan Cahill

1.0

2007

Wedding Belles

Wedding Belles

Father Henry

5.8

2007

Perfect Parents

Perfect Parents

Ed

5.5

2006

Offside

Offside

Duncan Miller

5.4

2006

Soundproof

Soundproof

DI Dave Cox

4.0

2006

The Ghost Squad

The Ghost Squad

(1 episode)

6.4

2005

Jericho

Jericho

Christie · (4 episodes)

6.8

2005

Omagh

Omagh

Detective Sergeant John White

6.3

2005

The Jacket

The Jacket

Damon

6.9

2005

North & South

North & South

Nicholas Higgins · (4 episodes)

8.1

2004

Blue Murder

Blue Murder

Derek Jowell · (2 episodes)

6.7

2003

The Commander

The Commander

(2 episodes)

6.6

2003

Rockface

Rockface

(14 episodes)

0.0

2002

Mapmaker

Mapmaker

Robert Bates

0.0

2001

Waking the Dead

Waking the Dead

Martin Corgan · (2 episodes)

7.2

2001

Conspiracy

Conspiracy

Heinrich Müller

7.3

2001

The Bombmaker

George McEvoy

0.0

2001

Rebel Heart

Rebel Heart

Michael Collins · (4 episodes)

6.0

2001

Paths to Freedom

Paths to Freedom

(6 episodes)

6.7

2000

McCready and Daughter

McCready and Daughter

(6 episodes)

0.0

2000

I Could Read the Sky

I Could Read the Sky

Francie

4.2

1999

Soft Sand, Blue Sea

Soft Sand, Blue Sea

Gerry

6.0

1998

The General

The General

UVF Leader

6.7

1998

Tomorrow Never Dies

Tomorrow Never Dies

HMS Bedford Leading Seaman

6.4

1997

The Last Bus Home

The Last Bus Home

Steve Burkett

1.0

1997

Silent Witness

Silent Witness

Liam Slattery · (1 episode)

7.6

1996

Dangerfield

(1 episode)

6.0

1995

The Glass Virgin

The Glass Virgin

Manuel Mendoza · (3 episodes)

7.3

1995

Fool's Gold: The Story Of The Brink's Mat Robbery

Fool's Gold: The Story Of The Brink's Mat Robbery

Det. Sgt. Benwell

5.0

1992

The Rising: 1916

Augustine Birrell

0.0

Butterfly in the Typewriter

Butterfly in the Typewriter

Milton Rickels

0.0

Silent Witness

Silent Witness

(1 episode)

7.6

1996

Prime Suspect

Prime Suspect

DCS Mitchell · (1 episode)

7.8

1991

The Bill

The Bill

(1 episode)

6.7

1984