Tributes are being paid to Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker, who has passed away at the age of 81.
The Dublin actress became the first Irish woman to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1989 film My Left Foot and was the first Irish woman to ever win an acting Oscar.
Following the Oscar win, Fricker became better known to a new generation of film fans for her performance in Home Alone 2.
Her post-Oscar win led to a run in Hollywood studio films, such as the Mike Myers comedy So I Married An Axe Murderer, sports drama Angels In The Outfield and the legal thriller A Time To Kill.
Fricker reunited with A Time To Kill director Joel Schumacher for the 2003 biopic Veronica Guerin, where Fricker played Guerin’s mother.
Her death was announced on Friday afternoon by her agent, Phil Belfield.
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,” he said.
Fricker was honoured with the Freedom of Dublin City earlier this year, but did not have the opportunity to accept the honour prior to her passing.
Speaking in February, then-Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said “Brenda Fricker is one of Dublin’s most distinguished cultural figures and it is a source of immense pride that our city is recognising her in this way.”
“Brenda’s Academy Award winning performance in ‘My Left Foot’ was a landmark moment for Irish acting and Irish cinema. But what makes her career so special is the body of work that followed, marked by honesty, depth and a rare ability to bring warmth and toughness in the same breath. Her performances have helped tell Irish stories and have become part of family life across generations,” he said.
“This honour is not simply about international acclaim. It is about contribution and the pride Brenda has brought to Dublin and to Ireland,” he stated at the time.
Fricker’s career began on Dublin’s stages in the 1960s, before receiving mainstream recognition after being cast in the British medical drama Casualty.
Fricker was part of the original cast of the show when it launched in 1986, before going on to win the Academy Award in 1990.
2025 saw the release of Fricker’s autobiography, She Died Young, in which she discussed her difficult upbringing.