{"id":520551,"date":"2026-04-09T00:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T00:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/520551\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T00:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T00:53:11","slug":"pioneering-irish-actor-michael-campbell-dies-aged-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/520551\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneering Irish actor Michael Campbell dies aged 35"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SnapInsta.to_531967171_18290875687267271_1426042857552014882_n-ead7-e1775675585369.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27903455\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"sync\"\/><br \/>\n\t\tThe actor was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2023 (Picture: michaelpatrick314\/Instagram)<\/p>\n<p>Award-winning Belfast actor Michael Campbell has died at the age of 35.<\/p>\n<p>The celebrated performer, who secured one of Britain\u2019s most coveted awards for his \u2018legendary\u2019 wheelchair-bound interpretation of Richard III, had been battling motor neurone disease (MND).<\/p>\n<p>An online death notice for the actor, who is also known as Michael Patrick, said he died on Tuesday at NI Hospice \u2018surrounded by his loving family and friends\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The star, who has worked on stage, TV, film and <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/radio\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">radio<\/a> productions, received the terminal diagnosis in February 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing the news on social media, his wife Naomi said: \u2018He lived a life as full as any human can live.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Mick was an inspiration to everyone who was privileged enough to come into contact with him, not just in the past few years during his illness but in every day of his life.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"541\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SnapInsta.to_532553054_18290875705267271_4782435185003027422_n-1310-e1775675561443.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27903456\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n\t\tMichael Campbell, who is also known as Michael Patrick, died on Tuesday \u2018surrounded by his loving family and friends\u2019 (Picture: michaelpatrick314\/Instagram)<\/p>\n<p>She added: \u2018Joy, abundance of spirit, infectious laughter. A titan of a ginger haired man.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In his final social media post from February, Campbell provided his followers with an update, revealing his neurologist had estimated he had approximately one year remaining. <\/p>\n<p>He also said how he had chosen to decline a tracheostomy, which is a surgical breathing aid inserted into the throat .<\/p>\n<p>This decision came as he said that he preferred to spend his remaining time outside the hospital walls.<\/p>\n<p>The award-winning actor\u2019s recent theatre work includes his autobiographical play My Right Foot and The Tragedy Of Richard II.<\/p>\n<p>The latter performance earned him the Judges\u2019 Award at The Stage Awards, Britain\u2019s celebration of theatrical excellence, hosted at the Royal Opera House in London.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to BBC\u00a0News NI afterwards, he explained how he and co-writer Ois\u00edn Kearney reimagined the Shakespearean classic through his illness.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"646\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SnapInsta.to_472704843_18387597196111543_4654694907504777809_n-1aa2.webp.jpeg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27903466\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n\t\tThe 35-year-old won an award for his portrayal of Richard III (Pictur: Michaelpatrick314\/Instagram)<\/p>\n<p>He told the broadcaster: \u2018In Shakespeare\u2019s version Richard III is deformed from birth. They found his skeleton in a car park and it looked like he had scoliosis.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We changed it so that at the start of the play Richard gets news that he\u2019s got a terminal illness, something like MND that\u2019s going to get worse.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>On television, he has also appeared in This Town, Blue Lights, Krypton and Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n<p>The Lyric Theatre Belfast\u2019s executive producer Jimmy Fay honoured Campbell by writing: \u2018These islands have lost a great artist, and the sky is brighter tonight with his star.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Mick showed great strength and dignity in light of his diagnosis MND. He remained resilient and focused, creating dynamic work throughout his struggles.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We at the Lyric pay tribute to his remarkable talent and send our deepest condolences to his wife Naomi, his mother and sisters, and all his friends, family and colleagues at this sad time.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Got a story?<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\">Arrow<br \/>\nMORE: <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/04\/07\/pure-evil-woman-claimed-dying-cancer-really-swindling-millions-27884289\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018Pure evil\u2019 woman claimed she was dying from cancer \u2013 but she was really swindling millions<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\">Arrow<br \/>\nMORE: <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/04\/01\/wales-fans-boo-god-save-king-anthem-northern-ireland-match-27800474\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wales fans boo God Save The King anthem before Northern Ireland match<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\">Arrow<br \/>\nMORE: <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/03\/25\/world-cup-play-offs-explained-can-still-qualify-work-27661101\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">World Cup play-offs: Who can still qualify and how does it work?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-comments\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tComment now<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tComments<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" class=\"metro-button share-bar-preferred-source\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source<br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tTV Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Sign up and tell us which TV shows you love to watch to get personalised updates every morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The actor was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2023 (Picture: michaelpatrick314\/Instagram) Award-winning Belfast actor Michael Campbell has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[96,49,50,1647,51,47,52,48,391],"class_list":{"0":"post-520551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories","16":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}