Brenda Fricker, Home Alone 2 And My Left Foot Star, Has Died, Aged 88

Oscar winner Brenda Fricker has died at the age of 88.

The character actor was most well-known to film fans for her work in the 1989 movie My Left Foot, for which she made history as the first Irish woman to ever win an Oscar, picking up the Best Supporting Actress prize at the Academy Awards.

Her other movie credits include So I Married An Axe Murderer and Veronica Guerin, while to a generation of viewers, she’ll be best remembered as the character known as the “Central Park Pigeon Woman” in the festive family comedy Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.

Paying tribute in a statement to BBC News on Friday morning, her agent 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’s other on-screen work included a recurring role in Casualty as nurse Megan Roach, a role she continued to play until the 2010s.

She also shared the screen with Glenn Close in 2011’s Albert Nobbs, and appeared in the TV adaptation of the Graham Norton novel Holding in the 2020s.

In addition to her acting career, Brenda released her candid memoir She Died Young: A Life In Fragments, last year.

Following the news of Brenda’s death, Ireland’s Tánaiste Simon Harris said he had been “deeply saddened” by the loss, remembering the late actor as “a national treasure”.

“She was a consummate performer who graced our screens and stages with remarkable talent and authenticity. Brenda brought depth and humanity to every role she undertook,” he said.

Harris added: “She truly was among the greatest exports this country has ever produced and an ambassador for Irish talent on the world stage. Quite simply, we will never see the like of her ever again.”