Paula Lambert leads tributes to the late Cork actor and presenter Frank Twomey 

MOVING tributes have been paid to the much-loved Cork-born actor, comedian and theatre producer Frank Twomey who passed away on Monday. 

A veteran star of stage and screen, he enjoyed a five-decade career, for which he was beloved by generations.

Despite appearances on RTÉ’s ‘Nighthawks’, his infamous impersonation of then-minister Mary O’Rourke on RTÉ’s ‘Bull Island’ and a long annual run in Cork as The Everyman’s pantomime dame, it was his role as Bosco’s friend Frank which made him a household name for generations of Irish children.

The RTÉ children’s television show ‘Bosco’ ran from 1979 to 1987, and a further decade of repeats kept Mr Twomey in the limelight, at least for his young fans.

Puppeteer Paula Lambert, who worked alongside Mr Twomey on the show, said she was very saddened to hear of his passing and she remembered fondly her time with the Cork actor.

“I worked with Frank for a decade or so, first on the television show, he was a presenter with Bosco and he was one of Bosco’s closest friends, and then we toured together with the puppet theatre for about five years after ‘Bosco’ stopped recording,” Ms Lambert told The Echo. 

“He had a most incredible sense of humour, he was a very, very funny character, and anybody that has ever met him would say that he had a natural, innocent wit, an almost slapstick kind of wit.

“He was a natural on Bosco, because he was a natural children’s television presenter. There was nothing false about him, he was very natural, and a very kind man."

A cameo role in ‘The Young Offenders Christmas Special’ in 2018 introduced a whole new generation to the veteran Cork actor.

Cork actor Hilary Rose, who plays Mairead in ‘The Young Offenders’ said she was very sorry to hear of Mr Twomey’s death.

“Generations of Irish kids grew up watching Frank and it feels like the end of an era for so many". Sending sympathy and best wishes to his family at this time,” Ms Rose said.

Cork actor Hilary Rose, who plays Mairead in ‘The Young Offenders’ said she was very sorry to hear of Mr Twomey’s death.

“Generations of Irish kids grew up watching Frank and it feels like the end of an era for so many". 

"Sending sympathy and best wishes to his family at this time,” Ms Rose said.

In a statement, the CEO of The Everyman, Seán Kelly, said: “We are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Frank Twomey. A true Cork legend, he appeared on our stage many times and will be fondly remembered as the much-loved dame in The Everyman and CADA’s Christmas Panto. May he rest in peace.”

Mr Twomey spent five years touring Ireland as part of the hugely successful ‘Santa Ponsa’ trilogy of stage comedies and in 2019 Mr Twomey brought a one-man show to Cork Arts Theatres entitled ‘Alone at Last’ which he said was “an ode to Bosco and his recovery from it”.

During the show Mr Twomey, who was billed as being “in the twilight of his life but at the peak of his audacity”, spoke of having arrived at a crossroads. He mused about being known as “your man from Bosco” wondering if there is a life afterwards where we can “close the magic door (of Bosco) for good” and wondered if it was “too late to be outrageous” or whether “being outrageous was passé”.

He also played a recurring role on Liveline’s 'Funny Friday', reprising his role as Mary O’Rourke.

Mr Twomey appeared in a moving Dublin Bus Advert which ran during Pride Month in 2019 wearing rainbow face paint and waving pride flags.

In 2020, Mr Twomey spoke to RTÉ about being an openly gay man in the 1980s, at a time when homosexuality was still criminalised, but he said those around him had been aware that he was gay.

"They knew. I was freaked out about it because it was a different era. We're talking the 80s, and it had yet to be legalised let alone same-sex marriage."

Those years were marked with “naked prejudice” he said, “but it didn't stop me from being gay. It meant that I was careful and I was very discrete because I had a government job”.

He said that he never regretted leaving that Government job to take up acting.

“There was not one person except my father who said ‘you’re doing the right thing.' Everybody said ‘Are you out of your mind?’ And I’m still going.”

In 2020 Mr Twomey appeared on ‘Agony OAPs’, a six part advice show from RTÉ’s ‘The Lab’, and he said he had thoroughly enjoyed the natural and easy swapping of life lessons and stories involved in sharing a couch with likes of Mary O'Rourke and GAA legend Pat Spillane.

Mr Twomey, who died following an illness, has been remembered fondly in Cork and beyond. Long time collaborator Packie O’Callaghan told the Neil Prendeville show on Cork's Red FM that the every time you would leave him (Frank) you would have a “bounce in your step … “He had that capacity to elevate peoples' mood. He grew old but he never grew up.”

“Generations of Irish kids grew up watching Frank and it feels like the end of an era for so many. Sending sympathy and best wishes to his family at this time,” Ms Rose said.