Camille O'Sullivan

Not to be confused with Camille (French singer).

Camille O'Sullivan
BornLondon, England
OriginCork, Ireland
GenresAlternative rock, baroque pop
Occupation(s)Singer, musician, actress
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano, keyboards
Years active2000–present
LabelsLittle Cat Records[1]
Websitecamilleosullivan.com

Camille O'Sullivan is an Irish singer, musician, and actress. O'Sullivan is known for her unique, dramatic musical style and covers of artists such as Radiohead, Tom Waits, and David Bowie.[2][3] As an actress, O'Sullivan has appeared in Mrs Henderson Presents, Rebellion, and Pick Ups.[4]

Early life

O'Sullivan was born in London, to Denis O'Sullivan, an Irish racing driver and world champion sailor, and Marie-José, a French artist.[5] She was raised in the town of Passage West, County Cork.[5] After finishing secondary school, O'Sullivan studied Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.[6] She dropped out of her course after a year because she felt "if I study any more that might kill my love for it."[5] On her parents' advice, she enrolled in University College Dublin[6] and studied architecture for four years. Whilst in UCD, she became known as "the singing architect" as she performed in all available university productions[5] and was a member of Dramsoc.[7]

O'Sullivan took a year off from her studies[citation needed] and moved to Berlin, Germany, where she worked at an architect's office. During her time in Berlin, she regularly attended local cabaret clubs[5] and began listening to the narrative music of Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill and Friedrich Hollaender. Upon returning to Ireland, she met Agnes Bernelle, a mentor who encouraged her to sing, saying "to do this right, you have to be a better actress than a singer, it's all about the story."[5] She graduated from University College Dublin with first class honours[8] and the highest marks at the university in a decade.[9] O'Sullivan then continued to work as an architect, winning an Architectural Association of Ireland award in the process,[10][11][12] while continuing to perform in local clubs at night.

Career

In 1999, O'Sullivan was involved in a near-fatal car crash, in which she suffered a head fracture,[5] her pelvis was fractured in six places, her hips displaced and the tendons in her hand were shredded.[6] It was months before she could walk again, and she was hospitalised for a year; she still has a metal plate in her pelvis.[5] The accident encouraged her to follow her dream of singing and she performed her first show after the accident while still on crutches.[5]

After being spotted by Ewen Bremner performing La Clique in The Famous Spiegeltent, O'Sullivan appeared as the vaudeville star Jane in the film Mrs Henderson Presents, directed by Stephen Frears, opposite Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins.[13][14] She and Will Young are also on the soundtrack to the movie.

O'Sullivan has stated:

I feel it’s necessary to not just do things to please ... I sometimes worried about that in the past. I thought, 'If I don’t want to alienate people, I shouldn’t perform difficult provocative dark songs'. But I would have given up if I’d stayed doing Dietrich and Piaf in a studied way, that cafe-cabaret version, where you’re making it easy instead of pushing yourself.[7]

In 1994, she performed in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at University College, Dublin.[7]

Discography

Main article: Camille O'Sullivan discography
Studio albums
Live albums
  • La Fille Du Cirque (2005)
  • Plays Brel Live (2005)
  • Live at the Olympia (2008)
  • Camille Sings Cave Live (2019)

Personal life

O'Sullivan was in a relationship with The Waterboys' lead singer Mike Scott,[15][16] with whom she has a daughter, Leila Élodie born in 2013. [17][18] Since 2014, she has been in a relationship with actor Aidan Gillen.[19][20]

See also

References

  1. ^ itunes. "Changeling on Little Cat Records". iTunes. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  2. ^ Revesz, Rachel (12 April 2016). "Meet Camille O'Sullivan, the eccentric and dramatic Irish singer people can't stop talking about". The Independent. New York. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Camille O'Sullivan: Feel". Under the Radar Festival Archive. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Bio". Camille O'Sullivan. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bob Flynn (10 August 2008). "In the spotlight: How Camille O'Sullivan sashayed from the drawing board to the cabaret stage – Features – Theatre & Dance – The Independent". The Independent. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Flynn, Bob (2 August 2008). "The Seductress". The Herald.
  7. ^ a b c Mick Heaney (26 November 2006). "A singer who went to Brel and back – Times Online". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Archived from using Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ McCormick, Neil (6 August 2012). "Camille O'Sullivan, interview: don't call me burlesque". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  9. ^ Davis, Clive (25 July 2009). "No femme is more fatale than Camille O'Sullivan [published in print under the title: That's why the lady is a vamp.]". The Times. No. 69897. p. 6-7 [Saturday Review]. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  10. ^ "AAI Awards 2000 | Architectural Association of Ireland". architecturalassociation.ie. January 2000. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  11. ^ "Camille O'Sullivan prowls the stage in The Changeling". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  12. ^ "City landscape scale projects 'entirely missing' from annual awards winners". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  13. ^ Dwyer, Ciara (4 December 2005). "The last of the great romantics". Independent.ie. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Bio". camilleosullivan.com. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  15. ^ "The Waterboy's Girl Is Over The Moon". The Irish Times. 9 June 2012. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Bard Work Pays Off For Camille". Irish Echo. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Ladies on their marker at Bobbi Brown launch". Irish Independent. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  18. ^ "Fated To Become A Femme Fatal". Irish Independent. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  19. ^ Smith, Andrea. "Aidan Gillen and Camille O'Sullivan's dream Dublin home finally ready". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  20. ^ "'He is such a wonderful person and is incredible with me and Lila' - Camille O'Sullivan on boyfriend Aidan Gillen". independent. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2023.