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'Home Alone 2', 'My Left Foot' actress Brenda Fricker dies at 81

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Headlines from ABC News Live
Bettmann Archive via Getty Images
ByMary Pat Thompson
July 17, 2026, 4:41 PM

Brenda Fricker, an Oscar-winning actress also known for a memorable role in "Home Alone 2," has died, according to her agent. She was 81.

Fricker's agent Phil Belfield confirmed that the Irish actress died Thursday "after a period of ill health" in a statement to ABC News.

"It is with much sadness that I share the news that beloved actress Brenda Fricker passed away peacefully last night in Dublin, after a period of ill health, at the age of 81," his statement reads.

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Belfield continued, "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 Fricker holds up her Oscar after winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in "My Left Foot" at the 62nd Academy Awards, on March 26, 1990.
Bettmann Archive via Getty Images

Fricker was born in Dublin, Ireland, on Feb. 17, 1945. Her career as an actress saw her appear in more than 30 film and TV roles.

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Fricker won a best supporting actress Oscar in 1990 for her role in biopic "My Left Foot." She played the mother of Daniel Day-Lewis' Christy Brown, a writer and painter who was born with cerebral palsy.

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Audiences would likely recognize her as the Central Park pigeon lady in the 1992 film "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York."

Brenda Fricker is shown in a scene from the 1992 movie, "Home Alone 2 - Lost In New York."
20th Century Fox via Kobal via Shutterstock

She recently published a memoir titled "She Died Young," which appeared on the Irish Sunday Times bestseller list.

Fricker was also recently granted the honor of the Freedom of the City of Dublin, "which she was particularly thrilled and proud of," her agent said.

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