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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Andrew Pulver

Brenda Fricker, Oscar winner for My Left Foot, dies aged 81

Brenda Fricker holds an Oscar statuette and smiles in front of a large gold statue backdrop
‘We will never see her like again’ … Fricker with her Oscar for My Left Foot. Photograph: Blake Sell/Reuters

Brenda Fricker, who became the first female Irish Oscar winner for acting with My Left Foot, has died aged 81. Her agent Phil Belfield told the BBC in a statement: “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.”

In My Left Foot, Fricker plays the mother of Christy Brown, whose cerebral palsy means he only has muscular control over one of his feet. The film, directed by Jim Sheridan, was released to enormous acclaim in 1989, winning the best actor Oscar for Daniel Day-Lewis as well as best supporting actress for Fricker.

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