Susan Fitzgerald obit

Actress Susan Fitzgerald dies after long illness

Tributes to ‘gifted’ performer ‘beloved of theatre audiences’

 

She was not on the list.

Tributes have been paid to actress Susan Fitzgerald who died this morning.

The Gate Theatre today announced the death of the 64-year-old actress from cancer following a long illness at her home.

She was "a stalwart of not just the Gate stage but of Irish theatre" the theatre said in a statement. She was married to the theatre's artistic director Michael Colgan.

Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan described her as "the pre-eminent stage actress of her generation and beloved of theatre audiences".

“With the poise of the truly gifted she could move from comedies of manners to contemporary plays and also, with equal facility, to television and film,” he said in a statement.

She was “especially kind and helpful to emerging young actors and her elegant presence soothed many opening night nerves,” he said.

She played many roles at The Gate, including as Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Mrs Bennett in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Among the Abbey Theatre productions she appeared in were Six Characters in Search of an Author, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Duty Master.

Her film and television work included playing Nora Clancy in Fair City, appearing in RTÉ’s Bachelor’s Walk and the role of Angela Gore in the film Satellites and Meteorites

She began her acting career in the 1970s after she graduated from Trinity College Dublin. Among her relatives are writer Jennifer Johnston, Hollywood actress Geraldine Fitzgerald and English actress Tara Fitzgerald.

She is survived by her children Sarah, Sophie and Richard and Michael Colgan.

Her funeral will take place on Wednesday at 2pm at the Church of The Three Patrons, Rathgar Road, Dublin 6.

Actress

Happy Ever Afters (2009)

Happy Ever Afters

5.5

Mrs Maguire

2009

 

Satellites & Meteorites (2008)

Satellites & Meteorites

7.5

Angela Gore

2008

 

Trouble with Sex (2005)

Trouble with Sex

5.1

Rosie

2005

 

The Big Bow Wow (2004)

The Big Bow Wow

3.1

TV Series

Patricia

2004

1 episode

 

Proof (2004)

Proof

6.7

TV Series

Beatrice Cosgrove

2004

3 episodes

 

Bachelors Walk (2001)

Bachelors Walk

8.1

TV Series

Martina Lawlor

2003

3 episodes

 

Footfalls (2001)

Footfalls

6.1

Short

May

2001

 

Rebel Heart (2001)

Rebel Heart

7.5

TV Mini Series

Mrs. Coyne

2001

3 episodes

 

Angela's Ashes (1999)

Angela's Ashes

7.3

Sister Rita

1999

 

Cillian Murphy in Sunburn (1999)

Sunburn

6.4

Robert's Mother

1999

 

Ewan McGregor, Pete Postlethwaite, Greta Scacchi, and Richard E. Grant in The Serpent's Kiss (1997)

The Serpent's Kiss

5.6

Mistress Clevely

1997

 

Peter Bowles in The Irish R.M. (1983)

The Irish R.M.

7.7

TV Series

Meg Longmuir

Miss Longmuir

1984–1985

2 episodes

 

Peter Barkworth, Derek Thompson, and Harriet Walter in The Price (1985)

The Price

8.6

TV Mini Series

Helen

1985

2 episodes

 

The Year of the French (1982)

The Year of the French

7.9

TV Mini Series

Judith Elliott

1982

1 episode

 

The Burke Enigma

TV Series

1978

1 episode

 

Last of Summer

TV Series

Angéle

1978

4 episodes

 

Bosco Hogan in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

6.2

Emma

1977