World
Brenda Fricker, Ireland's First Female Oscar Winner, Dies at 81
Brenda Fricker, an Irish actress and the first woman from her country to win an Oscar for an acting role, has died at age 81. The death was announced on July 17, 2026, by her agent Phil Belfield and confirmed to the BBC. Born in Dublin in 1945, Fricker gained prominence through My Left Foot (1989), directed by Jim Sheridan, where she played the mother of Christy Brown, an Irish artist with cerebral palsy. For this role, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2025, she published a memoir revealing past sexual abuse.