Brenda Fricker dead: Oscar-winning Irish actress best known for playing Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2 passes away aged 81

ACTRESS Brenda Fricker has died aged 81 after battling an illness her agent has confirmed.

The Oscar-winning Irish star is best known for her roles in My Left Foot and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.

Brenda was the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award for her role as Daniel Day Lewis‘ on-screen mother in My Left Foot in 1990.

After this success she had several major roles including as the iconic Pigeon Lady in the much loved Christmas classic Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in 1992.

Her agent Phil Belfield said: “We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her.

“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.”

Brenda was born in Dublin, to Bina and RTE broadcaster Desmond Fricker.

Her first job was as an assistant to the Irish Times’ Art Editor before she took up acting.

At 19 she played a small uncredited role in the 1964 film Of Human Bondage and her career on screen began.

She then appeared in Ireland’s first soap opera Tolka Row before taking on a role in one of the UK’s most iconic soaps, Coronation Street, where she played a staff nurse.

Following this, she played Megan Roach on BBC’s Casualty until 1990 and regularly returned to the show until 2010.

International fame came with My Left Foot and her Best Supporting Actress win for playing Christy Brown’s mother.

In her speech she dedicated the award to “all the people of Ireland”.

She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as the Irish writer’s mother.

In 1998 she teamed up with writer and director Jim Sheridan again for The Field where she played the wife of “Bull” McCabe with Richard Harris.

After her Oscar success she had roles in many Hollywood films from So I Married An Axe Murderer with Mike Myers, to A Time To Kill where she played Ethel Twitty, secretary of Matthew McConaughey‘s Jake Brigance.

From the end of the 1990s onwards she mainly worked on Canadian, Irish and British films.

Brenda worked alongside Cate Blanchett in 2003 film Veronica Guerin.

She returned to playing a nurse with Inside I’m Dancing in 2004, where she appeared as Eileen.

In 2021 she returned to the screen after a six year break and joined the cast of Holding.

Her most recent role was in 2024 in The Swallow by documentarian Tadhg O’Sullivan.

Earlier this year she was awarded the Freedom of Dublin for her contributions to the country’s arts and culture.

Brenda was married to Barry Davies for 15 years but the couple split in 1988.