Brenda Fricker obit

Brenda Fricker Dies: Oscar-Winning Actor & ‘Home Alone 2’s Central Park Pigeon Lady Was 81

 

She was not on the list.

Brenda Fricker, a Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner with memorable roles in My Left Foot and Home Alone 2, has died after a period of ill health, according to her agent. She was 81.

In a statement, her agent Phil Belfield confirmed Fricker’s death and said: “We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her.”

“I was honored to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over,” added Belfield.

Born in Dublin in 1945, Fricker started her career as a journalist before moving to TV and landing roles in British shows Coronation Street and Casualty, playing Megan Roach in the latter for 65 episodes.

She landed international acclaim playing Bridget Fagan Brown, mother of Daniel Day-Lewis’ Christy Brown, in Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot.

Along with Day-Lewis, Fricker won an Oscar for her performance in the movie about an Irish man born with cerebral palsy who could control only his left foot. Fricker became the first Irish actress to win an Oscar and beat huge stars like Julia Roberts and Anjelica Huston to the prize.

Two years later, she appeared in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in the iconic role of Central Park Pigeon Lady, which gave her worldwide recognition.

Fricker subsequently appeared in the likes of So I Married an Axe Murderer, Moll Flanders, Veronica Guerin and Albert Nobbs.

Before becoming an actress, Fricker was assistant to the art editor of The Irish Times, with hopes of becoming a reporter. At age 19, she became an actress "by chance". Her feature-film career began with a small uncredited part in the 1964 film Of Human Bondage, based on W. Somerset Maugham's 1915 novel. She also appeared in Tolka Row, Ireland's first soap opera.

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