Fair City bosses have declared Bryan Murray a “highly valued member of the Carrigstown community” – after the actor revealed he has Alzheimer’s disease.
Bryan, best-known for his role as Bob Charles on the RTE soap, was diagnosed three years ago but only decided to go public with the sad news yesterday. Now RTE bosses have said the national broadcaster will do everything they can to support Bryan and his wife and fellow star Una in the future on the show.
A spokesman added: “Bryan is a central and highly valued member of the Carrigstown community. That hasn’t changed. We love having him, and the audience love to see what Bob gets up to. We will do everything we can to support Bryan and Una into the future.”
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The 73-year-old had noticed several years ago he found it harder to learn his lines as quickly as he could have. Bryan revealed: “As a younger actor, I would get a script, it would be four pages and within 15 minutes I would know the lines. As I got older, I couldn’t do that any longer.”
Bryan will continue to work on Fair City for the foreseeable future and he has praised producer Brigie de Courcy for finding ways to support his condition on set. He told the RTE Guide: “When it first started, my character would be looking at a laptop, reading a newspaper, or I might have had a clipboard, but it would be the script in front of me.
“So, even if your memory is gone down the pan, your ways of coping with it are still intact. I had no problem telling the people in Fair City my memory was shot, that after half an hour of reading a script, I had no recollection of it.”
Una Crawford O’Brien, who plays Renee Phelan, figured something was up when the couple were touring with a play together. She said: “I noticed Bryan’s lines were difficult for him.
“He’d get irate if I were to say anything, so later, on holidays, I asked if he’d get his memory checked. He had the tests and got the diagnosis. For Bryan, memory was his thing, and to have it taken away from you when you have been a professional actor for 52 years is upsetting.
“Yes, you can use tricks and all the rest of it, but when you can’t remember, it’s hard.” Yesterday, fans including radio DJ Will Leahy paid tribute to the performer. He said: “I’ve nothing but admiration for the legendary Bryan Murray who reveals in the Rte Guide today that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease three years ago.” One fan wrote: “Such a great actor. Very sad to hear he’s not well. Wishing him and his family well.”
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Another said: “Life is so cruel. I’m so sorry to hear this. A lovely man. Great actor. Best Regards Bryan.” While another fan said: “I’m so sorry to hear this. Bryan is such a gentleman.”
Despite suffering from memory loss, Bryan’s acting ability has not been affected by his diagnosis. He said: “They [RTE] really could have said, ‘Well if you can’t learn your lines, you can’t be in the show’, but they did the exact opposite and that got rid of one of my biggest fears.”
For now, Bryan is focused on living in the moment and hopes going public with this news will help others in a similar situation. He added: “I really wanted to let it be known this was my situation and that for anyone who’s been recently diagnosed, there is an answer to it.”
But Bryan added that while it wasn’t “the end of the world”, he wished he didn’t have it. He said: “It’s the changing of your world, but it’s not the end. I wish I didn’t have it, but I do have it, and I’m still here. I have it and I am working with it.”
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