was ranked<\/a> No. 26 on the Irish Times\u2019 list of the best Irish film actors of all time. Other than her work on \u201cMy Left Foot,\u201d she is maybe best remembered by general audiences because the Pigeon Lady from the favored Christmas film \u201cHome Alone 2: Lost in Latest York.\u201d<\/p>\nFricker was born in Dublin on Feb. 17, 1945, to language teacher Bina Murphy and Desmond Frederick Fricker, a journalist for the Irish Times. Before becoming an actor, she initially desired to be a journalist, and worked for the Irish Times as an assistant to the paper\u2019s art editor. Her first film appearance was when she was 19, in a small uncredited part within the 1964 drama \u201cOf Human Bondage.\u201d She also had a minor appearance within the Irish soap opera \u201cTolka Row\u201d that yr.<\/p>\n
Throughout the \u201970s and \u201980s, Fricker would seem in various British soap operas and movies, mostly in small roles. In 1977, she had a brief four-episode arc within the ITV soap \u201cCoronation Street\u201d as a nurse who delivered the newborn of the principal villain Tracy Barlow (played on the time by Christabel Finch). Other movies and shows she appeared in include \u201cThe Quatermass Conclusion\u201d in 1978, \u201cThe Music Machine\u201d in 1979, \u201cBloody Kids\u201d in 1980 and \u201cCockles\u201d in 1984.<\/p>\n
Fricker first gained attention from audiences when she starred in the unique forged of \u201cCasualty,\u201d the long-running BBC medical drama following the Accident and Emergency Department of the fictional Holby City hospital. The show, which continues to be running, debuted in 1986, and Fricker starred as Nurse Megan Roach from the primary episode. Megan was one among the most-focused on characters for the primary five seasons of the show, until Fricker left after 65 episodes. She would return for guest appearances in 1998 and 2007, and in 2010 returned for a tragic four-episode arc which ended with Megan dying by suicide.<\/p>\n
Within the biographical drama \u201cMy Left Foot,\u201d Fricker portrayed Bridget Fagan Brown, a protective and loving mother who gave birth to just about two dozen children (nine of whom died in infancy) including Christy Brown, an Irish author and painter born with cerebral palsy. The film, which was based on Brown\u2019s 1954 memoir, was directed by Jim Sheridan and starred Day-Lewis as Brown, with Ray McAnally, Hugh O\u2019Conor, Fiona Shaw, and Cyril Cusack in supporting roles. For her performance as Bridget, Fricker won best supporting actress on the 1990 Academy Awards. During her speech, she memorably dedicated her award to the lady she portrayed, saying: \u201cAnybody who gives birth 22 times deserves one among these.\u201d<\/p>\n