Brenda Fricker, the Academy Award-winning Irish actress who appeared in the family baseball film Angels in the Outfield and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, has died after a period of ill health. She was 81.
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Fricker's agent confirmed that she died peacefully and described her as a beloved actress whose career spanned more than six decades.
In Angels in the Outfield (1994), Fricker portrayed Maggie Nelson, the caring foster home operator who helps provide a home for the film's young protagonists. The Disney baseball fantasy starred Danny Glover, Tony Danza, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Christopher Lloyd.
Fricker was also widely recognized for playing the Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, a role that introduced her to a new generation of moviegoers.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Fricker became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award when she earned the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in My Left Foot in 1990.
Her film credits also included The Field, So I Married an Axe Murderer, A Time to Kill, Veronica Guerin and Inside I'm Dancing. On television, she appeared in the original cast of the BBC medical drama Casualty and later starred in Holding and The Catch.
Earlier this year, Fricker was awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin, one of the city's highest civic honors.
Tributes poured in following news of her death, with admirers remembering her as one of Ireland's most accomplished actors and praising a career that spanned film and television for more than 60 years.
