A Hungry Feeling: The Life and Death of Brendan Behan

The life story of Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright and notorious drunk Brendan Behan, crosscutting recollections of friends and family gathered in a favorite Irish pub with archival footage. One of six children born to a working class family in the North Dublin slums on February 9, 1923, he became active with the IRA as a teenager, smuggling explosives with the intent of blowing up a ship, and, as a result, serving time in a juvenile detention center. His arrests for public drunkenness were numerous and continuous. He achieved worldwide success with his play "The Hostage," after which he wrote less and drank more. With his fame, he became somewhat of an outcast as friends and family deserted him as he drank even more. An alcoholic diabetic, he collapsed at.a Dublin bar and was transferred to a hospital, where he died on March 20, 1964, at age 41.