42 Jacob's Award winners

The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients were selected by Ireland's national newspaper television and radio critics. Jacob's Award winners were chosen annually until 1993, when the final awards presentation took place.

John Alderton is an English actor who is best known for his roles in Upstairs, Downstairs, Thomas & Sarah, Wodehouse Playhouse, Little Miss, Please Sir! and Fireman Sam. Alderton has often starred alongside his wife, Pauline Collins.

Maeve Binchy Snell was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Her novels were characterised by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and her death at age 73, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the death of one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognisable writers.

Eavan Aisling Boland was an Irish poet, author, and professor. She was a professor at Stanford University, where she had taught from 1996. Her work deals with the Irish national identity, and the role of women in Irish history. A number of poems from Boland's poetry career are studied by Irish students who take the Leaving Certificate. She was a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry.

Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, cultural ambassador, audiobook narrator and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish drama serial The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken.

Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's second longest-running chat show. He was affectionately known as "Uncle Gay", "Gaybo" or "Uncle Gaybo". His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce The Beatles on screen and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on screen in 1993.

Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television, presenting a succession of programmes on the arts during the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the Civilisation series in 1969.

Brian Brendon Talbot Cleeve was a writer, whose published works include twenty-one novels and over a hundred short stories. He was also an award-winning broadcaster on RTÉ television. Son of an Irish father and English mother, he was born and raised in England. He lived in South Africa during the early years of National Party rule and was expelled from the country because of his opposition to apartheid. In his early thirties he moved to Ireland where he lived for the remainder of his life. In late middle age he underwent a profound spiritual experience, which led him to embrace mysticism. He developed a model for the spiritual life based on the principle of obedience to the will of God.

Peter Collinson was a British film director probably best remembered for directing The Italian Job (1969).

Alistair Cooke was a British-born American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States. Outside his journalistic output, which included Letter from America and America: A Personal History of the United States, he was well known in the United States as the host of PBS Masterpiece Theatre from 1971 to 1992. After holding the job for 22 years, and having worked in television for 42 years, Cooke retired in 1992, although he continued to present Letter from America until shortly before his death. He was the father of author and folk singer John Byrne Cooke.

Paddy Crosbie was the Irish creator of the radio and television programmes The School Around The Corner and Back To School.

Conor Cruise O'Brien often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish politician, writer, historian and academic who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 to 1977, a Senator for University of Dublin from 1977 to 1979, a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-East constituency from 1969 to 1977 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from January 1973 to March 1973.

Cyril James Cusack was an Irish actor. He appeared in numerous films and television productions in a career lasting more than 70 years. In 2020, he was listed at number 14 on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

Raymond Michael D'Arcy is an Irish television and radio presenter currently on his second spell at state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He once presented a self-titled weekday morning radio programme on the Denis O'Brien-owned Today FM. His professional partner on that show, Jenny Kelly, became his wife on 24 August 2013 and they have two children: Tom and Kate.

Joseph Duffy is an Irish broadcaster employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). One of RTÉ's highest-earning stars, he is the current presenter of Liveline, an interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on Mondays to Fridays between 13:45 and 15:h00.

Hilton Edwards was an English-born Irish actor, lighting designer and theatrical producer. He co-founded the Gate Theatre with his partner Micheál Mac Liammóir and has been referred to as the founder of Irish theatre. He was one of the most recognisable figures in the arts in 20th century Ireland.

Bernard Patrick Fallon, known as BP Fallon, is an Irish DJ, author, photographer, and musician. He lives in Austin, Texas.

David Fanning is an Irish television and radio broadcaster, rock journalist, DJ, film critic and author. Fanning currently hosts weekend midday magazine/chat show The Dave Fanning Show on the Irish national radio station RTÉ 2fm and a number of RTÉ Radio 1 programmes. He regularly deputises on RTÉ Radio 1 across a range of primetime programmes and also presented his own Monday-Friday 9 am show Mornings With Dave Fanning in 2015.

Marian Finucane was an Irish broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She began working with the national broadcaster in 1974, starting as a continuity announcer. She was the first presenter of Liveline and presented The Marian Finucane Show at weekend lunchtimes on RTÉ Radio 1 until her death.

Robert Fisk was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. During his career he developed strong views, and was especially critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stance earned him praise from many commentators, but was condemned by others.

Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan is an Irish stage, television and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known for her roles in the films James Joyce's Women (1985) and The Others (2001), for the latter of which she won a Saturn Award. She was honored with the Maureen O'Hara Award at the Kerry Film Festival in 2011, the award is offered to women who have excelled in their chosen field in film. She was also nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards during her acting career. In 2020, she was listed at number 23 on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper middle class Forsyte family, and stars Eric Porter as Soames, Kenneth More as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene.

Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times for a Golden Globe Award.

The Great War is a 26-episode documentary series from 1964 on the First World War. The documentary was a co-production of the Imperial War Museum, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Commission. The narrator was Michael Redgrave, with readings by Marius Goring, Ralph Richardson, Cyril Luckham, Sebastian Shaw and Emlyn Williams. Each episode is c. 40 minutes long.

Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr and Kenneth Williams. The final television series, renamed simply Hancock, starred Hancock alone.

Marie Kean was an Irish actress of stage and screen whose career spanned over 40 years. The Stage called her one of Ireland's most impressive actresses, and "an artist of considerable emotional depth and theatrical command.”

Justin Keating was an Irish Labour Party politician, broadcaster, journalist, lecturer and veterinary surgeon. In later life he was president of the Humanist Association of Ireland.

Robert Kee was a British broadcaster, journalist and writer, known for his historical works on World War II and Ireland.

Francis Kelly was an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best known for playing Father Jack Hackett in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted.

Patrick Kenny is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk and the current affairs show Pat Kenny Tonight on Virgin Media One.

Michael Lally was an Irish stage, film and television actor. He departed from a teaching career for acting during the 1970s. Though best known in Ireland for his role as Miley in the television soap Glenroe, Lally's stage career spanned several decades, and he was involved in feature films such as Alexander and the Academy Award-nominated The Secret of Kells. He died in August 2010 after a battle with emphysema. Many reports cited him as one of Ireland's finest and most recognisable actors.

Hugh Leonard was an Irish dramatist, television writer and essayist. In a career that spanned 50 years, Leonard wrote nearly 30 full-length plays, 10 one-act plays, three volumes of essays, two autobiographies, three novels, numerous screenplays and teleplays, and a regular newspaper column.

Cathal Mac Coille is a retired Irish broadcaster, researcher and journalist. He was a co-presenter of Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 for most of the period from 1986 until his retirement in 2017. He currently writes opinion pieces for Tuairisc.ie, a role he took up in 2014. He was used by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in numerous political broadcasts and interviewed several prominent politicians.

Micheál Mac Liammóir was a British–Irish actor, dramatist, impresario, writer, poet and painter. Though born to a Protestant family living in London, with no Irish connections, he emigrated to Ireland in early adulthood, changed his name, and remained there for the rest of his life. He co-founded the Gate Theatre with his partner Hilton Edwards. He is one of the most recognizable figures in the arts in twentieth-century Ireland.

Proinsias Mac Aonghusa was an Irish journalist, writer, TV presenter and campaigner.

Ray McAnally was an Irish actor. He was the winner of four BAFTA awards in the late 1980s: twice for Best Supporting Actor, and twice for Best Actor in the television category. In 2020, he was listed at number 34 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

Nell McCafferty is an Irish journalist, playwright, civil rights campaigner and feminist. In her journalistic work she has written for The Irish Press, The Irish Times, Sunday Tribune, Hot Press and The Village Voice.

Charles Gerald Anthony Mitchel was an Irish actor and broadcaster, best known as an RTÉ television newscaster for almost 23 years.

Dermot John Morgan was an Irish comedian and actor. He was best known for his role as Father Ted Crilly in the Irish sitcom Father Ted.

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh is an Irish Gaelic games commentator for the Irish national radio and television, RTÉ. In a career that has spanned six decades he has come to be regarded as the "voice of Gaelic games." He has been described as a national treasure. His prolific career has earned him a place in Guinness World Records.

Gerard Ryan was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He presented The Gerry Ryan Show on radio station RTÉ 2fm each weekday morning from 1988 until hours before his sudden death. He was presented with a Jacob's Award for this show in 1990.

Zig and Zag are an Irish puppet duo, featured on RTÉ, performed by Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara.