Broadway star Tom Murphy dead at 39

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NEW YORK, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Irish actor Tom Murphy, who won a Tony Award for starring in "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" on Broadway, has died at the age of 39, Playbill.com reported.

The Dublin-born actor, who has also appeared in the films "The Snapper" and "Michael Collins," died Saturday of quickly spreading lymphatic cancer, said his friend, Kris Stone.

"Mr. Murphy offers comic relief without ever presenting it as such," critic Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times of Murphy's portrayal of a bored teenager in Martin McDonagh's play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane."

"His, more than any other character, must embody the provincial society beyond the women's home, and Ray's irritable restlessness is eloquent on the subject."

Murphy beat out his castmate Brian F. O'Byrne for the Tony Award, Playbill.com noted.

The BBC reported that Marie Mullen, Murphy's "Leenane" co-star, led a round of applause at Saturday's curtain of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" at the Gaiety Theatre.