Oscar-winning Irish actress Brenda Fricker has died at the age of 81. Fricker passed away on Thursday night in Dublin after “a period of ill health” according to her agent Phil Belfield.
Belfield said in a statement: “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.”
The curly-haired and tough-as-nails actress had a seven-decade career and became the first Irish actor to win an Oscar for her work as Bridget Brown, the real-life mother of Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis), in 1989’s “My Left Foot”.
Of working with Day-Lewis, Fricker told The Guardian last year: “I’m fond of him. A good man, great morals. But he’s a f–king Method actor. I mean, we all have a method. I don’t mind another Method actor, but if they interfere with my little method, then f–k off, like, you know?”
Notable roles included the Pigeon Lady in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” a foster home caretaker in “Angels in the Outfield,” a cook in “Albert Nobbs,” a paranoid mother in “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” and a nun in the Australian mini-series “Brides of Christ”.
Other notable works included “Moll Flanders,” “A Time to Kill,” “Veronica Guerin,” “Inside I’m Dancing,” “Closing the Ring,” “The Field,” and “A Man of No Importance”.
Fricker led an incredibly rough life which saw her assaulted by her mother, groomed by a teacher, spending two years in hospital after crashing through a car windscreen on her bike at age 14, contracting tuberculosis, self-harming, being raped twice, enduring six miscarriages, and battling severe depression for much of her life that saw her institutionalised on multiple occasions.
Our sincerest condolences go out to her friends, colleagues and fans.
Source: THR
