17 Facts About Brenda Fricker

1.

Brenda Fricker was born on 17 February 1945 and is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen.

2.

Brenda Fricker has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles.

3.

Brenda Fricker appeared in films such as The Field, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Angels in the Outfield, A Time to Kill, Veronica Guerin, Inside I'm Dancing and Albert Nobbs.

4.

In 2008, Fricker was honoured with the inaugural Maureen O'Hara Award at the Kerry Film Festival.

5.

Brenda Fricker's mother, "Bina", was a teacher at Stratford College, and her father, Desmond Frederick Fricker, served in the Department of Agriculture and as 'Fred Desmond' a broadcaster with RTE and a journalist for The Irish Times.

6.

Brenda Fricker appeared in Tolka Row, Ireland's first soap opera.

7.

Brenda Fricker's character attended on the birth of Tracy Barlow on 24 January 1977's episode.

8.

Brenda Fricker came to wider public attention in the United Kingdom in another nursing role, as Megan Roach in the BBC One television drama series Casualty.

9.

Brenda Fricker bowed out as Megan in December 1990, after playing the character in 65 episodes, because she believed her character had "started off with a wonderful sense of humour, [but] lost it all and all she ever seemed to do was push a trolley around and offer tea and sympathy".

10.

Brenda Fricker found international acclaim after she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1990 for her performance as Christy Brown's mother in My Left Foot.

11.

Brenda Fricker rejoined My Left Foot writer and director Jim Sheridan to make the 1990 film The Field, starring alongside Richard Harris as Maggie McCabe, the wife of Harris' "Bull" McCabe.

12.

Brenda Fricker continued her television work during this period, starring in the Australian-produced short series Brides of Christ and the miniseries Seekers alongside Josette Simon, produced by Sarah Lawson.

13.

Brenda Fricker then played nurse Eileen in the film Inside I'm Dancing.

14.

Brenda Fricker has appeared in Closing the Ring, Richard Attenborough's post-World War II drama, starring Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer and Mischa Barton.

15.

In 2021 Brenda Fricker joined the cast of the TV adaptation of Holding, based on the book of the same name by Graham Norton, marking her first major onscreen role in six years.

16.

Brenda Fricker was previously married to director Barry Davies, until their divorce in 1988.

17.

In 2008, Brenda Fricker was honoured with the inaugural Maureen O'Hara Award at the Kerry Film Festival.