Robert arkins biography

Irish musician and actor

Robert Arkins is an Irishmusician and actor^[1] who played the role of Jimmy Rabbitte in the 1991 film The Commitments.

Life and career

A native of Drumcondra, Dublin,^[2] Arkins has been a professional musician from the age of 15.^[3] He left school at 17 to front his band, Housebroken.^[1] He is a vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who counts piano, bass and trumpet in his repertoire.^[1] Housebroken won the Sunday World Bandslam competition in 1988, after only having been established for three months.^[2]

With no prior acting experience, Arkins heard of the filming of The Commitments from his sister.^[1] Following seven auditions, Arkins was cast as "Deco Cuffe", the band's lead singer, but was replaced in that role after director Alan Parker discovered newcomer Andrew Strong.^[4] Ar