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Brenda Fricker, Oscar Winner and ‘Pigeon Lady’ of Home Alone 2, Dies at 81

No official cause has been released for her death, which has focused attention on a six-decade career that brought Irish stories to global audiences

Overview

  • Brenda Fricker’s death was confirmed by her agent Phil Belfield, who said she died peacefully in Dublin after a period of poor health; she was 81 and passed on Thursday.
  • Fricker won the 1990 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for My Left Foot, becoming the first Irish actress to receive an Oscar.
  • Global audiences also remember her brief, beloved role as the Central Park 'Pigeon Lady' in Home Alone 2, which kept her familiar to family viewers across generations.
  • She published candid memoirs in 2025 about personal trauma and ill health and continued to work into the 2020s with projects such as The Swallow (2024).
  • Tributes poured in from colleagues and public figures, and officials have not released a cause of death so further details may come from her representatives or family.