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Brenda Fricker dies aged 81

moviesJul 17, 2026331,460

Oscar-winning Irish actress Brenda Fricker has died at the age of 81, her agent Phil Belfield said. Fricker won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1990 for playing Daniel Day-Lewis's on-screen mother in My Left Foot. She was the first Irish actress to win an Oscar and later said the accolade led to typecasting that limited some opportunities. Fricker played nurse Megan Roach in the BBC medical drama Casualty from its first episode in 1986, making her final appearance in 2010, and she was the Central Park pigeon lady in Home Alone 2 in 1992. Born in Dublin, her early work included Ireland's Tolka Row, Coronation Street in 1977 and David Hare's Licking Hitler in 1978. Her other film credits included So I Married An Axe Murderer, Angels in the Outfield, A Time to Kill and Veronica Guerin. Ireland's Tánaiste Simon Harris called her a national treasure and the US ambassador to Ireland, Edward Walsh, praised her as a giant of Irish film; earlier this year the Lord Mayor of Dublin proposed she be given the freedom of the city.

Phil Lewis
@phillewis.bsky.social

Brenda Fricker, the Oscar-winning actress who was well-known for her role as the Pigeon Lady in “Home Alone 2,” has died. She was 81.

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