Brenda Fricker, Oscar winner for My Left Foot, dies at 81 Movie

Brenda Fricker, who became the first Irish woman to win an Oscar for My Left Foot, has died at the age of 81. Her agent, Phil Belfield, told the BBC in a statement: “We will never see her like her again and the world is made less and less important by missing her… It was an honor to know, love and work with her, and she will always have a place in my heart and in the hearts of so many film and TV fans around the world.”

In My Left Foot, Fricker plays the mother of Christy Brown, who suffers from cerebral palsy which means he only has muscle control of one foot. The film, directed by Jim Sheridan, was released to huge acclaim in 1989, winning Best Actor Oscars for Daniel Day-Lewis and Best Supporting Actress for Fricker.

Born in Dublin in 1945, Fricker became arts editor at the Irish Times before taking up acting, winning small roles in Of Human Bondage and Upstairs, Downstairs. In 1977 she was cast as a nurse in Coronation Street, and in 1986 she landed a regular role in the hospital soap opera Casualty.

However, the success of My Left Foot made her a versatile and in-demand actress and she appeared in a series of Hollywood, British and Irish films. She appeared opposite Richard Harris in The Field and Albert Finney in A Man of No Importance, and had roles in high-profile American films including Angels in the Outfield, A Time to Kill, and Veronica Guerin, as well as playing the “bathroom lady” in the 1992 comedy Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Her last credit was The Swallow, directed by Tadhg O’Sullivan.

In 2025, Fricker published a memoir revealing horrific details of past sexual assault and rape, including an assault by a fellow Coronation Street actor, telling The Guardian: “You think it’s your fault. You really do.”

Fricker was married to Barry Davis between 1979 and 1988.