| Francis Cronin | |
| Birth Name: | Francis John Cronin |
| Birth Place: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Alma Mater: | Templeogue College |
| Occupation: | Actor |
Francis Cronin is an Irish actor and comedian and recipient of a Presidential Commission in 2007.[1]
Francis was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, where he attended Templeogue College Secondary School. After leaving Templeogue college he started to study a BA in Arts and later joined the Irish Aircorps.
In 2005 Francis served with the United Nations on the UNMIL peace enforcing mission in Liberia and on his return began an Irish Army cadetship as part of the 82nd Cadet class and received a presidential commission in 2007 'Winning the tactical sword for leadership'. He retired a lieutenant in 2008.[2]
While serving in the Irish Defense Forces he began a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychological studies and Spanish at the National University of Ireland, Galway. In 2008 he opened an Irish bar 'The Temple Bar' in Guadalajara, Mexico.[3] Francis achieved national acclaim for his video series documenting his adventures on his YouTube channel Glowpunk.[4]
After living his entire final year of university in a tent, Francis performed a one-man show Tent Boy[5] in which "he distilled his experiences of living in the tent down to a performance" in the Galway,[6] Muscailt Arts Festival in 2013 at the Bank of Ireland Theatre, Galway.[7] [8] While living in the tent in his six part series documenting his adventures he interviewed Irish comedian Des Bishop and Owen Colgan of the Hardy Bucks.[9] He is currently studying acting at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He began performing standup comedy in 2013 and has since performed with Emmy Award winning Saturday Night Live alumnus Dana Carvey and Christopher Titus of pawnography fame. Francis has also starred in 'The Funster' YouTube series by Carvey, where he portrays a hopeful tech entrepreneur. He is currently working on and guest starring in Beyondthecomics.com with ex-SNL head writer and screenwriter Fred Wolf.[10]
Francis was a series regular on Equals Three productions Date Debate and Comedians On And a series regular in Ray William Johnson's viral video sketches which receive over 50 million views a month. Francis has played the lead in the theatrical productions Nick Dear's Frankenstein in which he played The Creature. The Jacksonian by Beth Henley in which he played Dr. Bill Perch. 12 Angry Men in which he played Juror number 5. Dramatis Personae, where he played John Rose. He also performed alongside Meena Suvari at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival.[11] [12]
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Happy Camper | GlowPunk | |
| 2013 | The Boys | Jimmy John Joe | |
| 2013 | The Funster | ||
| 2014 | Beyond the Comics | Self | |
| 2015 | Comedians On | Self | |
| 2016 | Date Debate | Self |
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | A Friend in Need | Vincent | |
| 2016 | Dilemma | Tony | |
| 2016 | Dr. Elevator | Jacob Jefferson (J.J) | |
| 2016 | Frenchman's Flat | Murphy | |
| 2016 | And We Are Live | Frankie | |
| 2016 | Los Angeles Greek Film Festival | Performed with Meena Suvari | |
| 2023 | Peter O'Malley |
Francis was nominated for Outsider person of the year 2013[15] and won the Waff (Wee Adventure Film Festive) People's choice Award 2012 for his other comedic adventure videos on his YouTube channel glowpunk.[16] Francis also received an honorary head case award from headcase.ie.[17]