Irish actress Brenda Fricker, best known for My Left Foot, Home Alone 2 and Brides of Christ, has died.
Irish actress Brenda Fricker, best known for My Left Foot, Home Alone 2 and Brides of Christ, has died aged 81.
Her agent Phil Belfield said: “We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her.”
He added: “I was honoured 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.”
Fricker began her acting career in TV and the theatre, including Ireland’s first soap opera Tolka Row in the 1960s, UK soap Coronation Street in 1977.
She was in the cast of the first episode of long-running medical drama Casualty in 1986, remaining a fixture until 1990 and returning regularly in the subsequent years.
She made history in 1990 when she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award. My Left Foot told the true story of an Irish man named Christy Brown, played by Day-Lewis.
She was cast as the homeless bird lady befriended by Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin in Home Alone 2.
In Australia’s Brides of Christ she was a nun reluctant to embrace the modernisation of the church and convent, alongside Sandy Gore as Mother Superior.
Her other film credits included 1993’s So I Married An Axe Murderer, 1994’s Angels In The Outfield, 1996’s A Time To Kill and 2003’s Veronica Guerin.
Ireland’s Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of “a national treasure”.
“She was a consummate performer who graced our screens and stages with remarkable talent and authenticity. Brenda brought depth and humanity to every role she undertook,” he said.
“She truly was among the greatest exports this country has ever produced and an ambassador for Irish talent on the world stage. Quite simply, we will never see the like of her ever again.”
Source: BBC