Joseph Laurence Lynch (16 July 1926 – 1 August 2001) was an Irish actor who had a long career in both comedy and drama. He provided voice work for children's animated series, in particular Chorlton and the Wheelies.
Initially acting part-time with the Cork Shakespearean Company and at the Cork Opera House, by 1947 Lynch was acting full-time.[4]
He was a founding member of the Radio Éireann Players and appeared in productions of Teresa Deevy[5] plays among others. Between 1967–81, he acted onstage with the Abbey Theatre.[6] During the 1950s he was responsible for a Radio Éireann show Living with Lynch, broadcast on Sunday nights — the first comedy series on Radio Éireann.[7]
In 1962, and again in 1977, Lynch won a Jacob's Award for his acting on RTÉ television.[8]
By 1979, Lynch was back in Ireland, and made his first appearances as Dinny Byrne in the RTÉ soap Bracken. Later the Byrne character would feature in the long-running RTÉ soap Glenroe.[8]
Lynch quit Glenroe after he claimed to have been "shamefully treated" and offered "small potatoes" when he asked for a pay rise. He was also upset that he was not to get a pension. RTÉ disputed those claims.[9] Lynch criticised RTÉ for preventing him from doing other acting work alongside Glenroe. "I was terrible restricted in RTÉ, they wouldn't let me off for anything, even commercials."[10]
Lynch voiced the main antagonist, "Grundel the Toad", in the Don Bluth film Thumbelina, his final audio work before his death seven years later.[11]
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