Brenda Fricker, the acclaimed Irish actor who became the first Irish performer to win an Academy Award, has died at the age of 81 in Dublin after a period of ill health. With a career spanning six decades and more than 90 film and television credits, Fricker was celebrated for her unforgettable performances in My Left Foot , Home Alone 2: Lost in New York , and the BBC medical drama Casualty .
Fricker made history in 1990 when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for portraying Bridget Fagan Brown, the devoted mother of Christy Brown, in the 1989 biographical drama My Left Foot . Her emotionally powerful performance opposite Daniel Day-Lewis, who won Best Actor for playing Christy Brown, cemented her place as one of Ireland's finest actors.
