Gaiety actor dies of heart attack

Members of Ireland's theatre community were in shock last night at the sudden death of actor Eamon Clancy (42).

He had a heart attack at the Accident & Emergency unit in Dublin's St James's Hospital yesterday while awaiting admission.

The actor, who played Juror Number Five in the production of 12 Angry Men currently running at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre, became ill at his home late on Sunday night with pains in his chest.

He was taken to St James's Hospital some time later, where he died at about 11.30 a.m. after spending the night in A&E.

According to family and friends, Mr Clancy had no history of heart trouble.

A clearly upset Pat Moylan, producer of 12 Angry Men, said she received a phone call from Mr Clancy's girlfriend on Sunday night to say he was ill.

He had been concerned that an understudy be found to replace him in last night's performance of the show.

There was no performance of 12 Angry Men on Sunday night. The Gaiety was closed, as is traditional for theatres on a Sunday.

"What do you say about a thing like this?" Ms Moylan asked. "He was a fantastic actor, a great team player, a real fun guy." She had just been to meet other cast members at the Gaiety. "They were all crying, really distraught," she said.

In the best tradition of theatre, the play went ahead last night, but beforehand it was decided that the performance would be in honour of Mr Clancy and that there would be a minute's silence at the end of the performance in his memory.

Actor David O'Mara filled in at short notice last night. "He even knew David O'Mara was filling in for him," said Ms Moylan.She said that when she had spoken to Eamon Clancy there had been no sense that he was in any immediate danger.