Brenda Fricker, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in “My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown” (1989), has died at age 81.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was "deeply saddened" to learn of her death, adding on the media site X: "She was an iconic figure in Irish film and theatre, an Oscar winner and an actor of world renown."
Tanaiste Simon Harris said Fricker was “one of Ireland’s most celebrated and cherished actors. Our country has lost a national treasure.
"As the first Irish woman to win an acting Oscar, she opened doors and set a standard of excellence that continues to inspire generations of Irish artists.”
Harris added, "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.
"She truly was among the greatest exports this country has ever produced and an ambassador for Irish talent on the world stage,” the Tanaiste said, “Quite simply, we will never see the like of her ever again."
Fricker had a distinguished career in television and cinema, as well as the stage. The 1960s RTE soap opera “Tolka Row,” was an early credit and she later won fame in the BBC medical drama “Casualty,” and the drama “The Ballroom of Romance,” an adaptation of the William Trevor short story of the same name.
In addition to “My Left Foot” in which she played the mother of writer Christy Brown (portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis), Fricker was well-known for her work in “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York,” “A Time to Kill” “The Field,” “Omagh” and “Veronica Guerin.” From the mid-1990s on, after “A Time to Kill,” Fricker worked away from Hollywood and mostly in Canada, Ireland and the U.K.
Her agent Phil Belfield said, "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."
Fricker was born in Dublin on Feb. 17, 1945, to a Kerry-born mother, Bina Murphy, who taught languages and a civil servant father, Frederick Fricker, who was also a broadcaster and journalist. She had an older sister. Her memoir, “She Died Young: A Life in Fragments,” published last year revealed a difficult, often harrowing life, involving for instance physical and sexual abuse, a cycling accident as a teen, severe depression, suicide attempts and psychiatric care. Her former husband Barry Davies, who died in 1990, battled alcoholism. Fricker revealed she had six pregnancies during their marriage in the 1980s, which all ended in miscarriage.
Fricker, who dedicated her Oscar to Bridget Brown, saying "anybody who gives birth 22 times deserves one of these," and also to all of the people of Ireland, said she most enjoyed reading poetry, playing snooker (at which excelled), caring for her dogs and drinking Guinness.
