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Brenda Fricker won an Academy Award in 1990 for her role in My Left Foot<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n She detailed personal struggles, including depression and childhood abuse, in her 2025 memoir She Died Young: A Life in Fragments<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Fricker\u2019s agent confirmed her death, calling her a beloved talent whose loss is deeply felt worldwide<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n In the wake of the death of Brenda Fricker<\/a> \u2014 beloved for her role as the \u201cpigeon lady\u201d in Home Alone 2<\/em><\/a> \u2014 many tragedies in the actress\u2019 life are resurfacing.<\/p>\n Fricker saw much success in the acting industry, having won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1990 for her role in My Left Foot. <\/em>But behind the scenes, she struggled with a number of tragedies in her personal life.<\/p>\n Fricker married director Barry Davis in 1979, and the two divorced in 1988. Davis died in 1990 after a fall down stairs while under the influence of alcohol. They had no children, though Fricker has said she suffered several miscarriages during their time together.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE\u2019s <\/strong>free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Brenda Fricker in Home Alone 2Credit: 20th Century Fox\/Kobal\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In a 2021 interview<\/a>, she opened up about having been hospitalized for depression in the past, saying she was a \u201cregular\u201d in an Irish mental health institution \u201cbefore it was all posh like it is now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very difficult, but there was a wonderful doctor … he saved my life, he was brilliant with me,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n In 2025, Fricker released a memoir, She Died Young: A Life in Fragments<\/em><\/a>. Writing the memoir, she told The Guardian<\/em><\/a> that same year, \u201cwas murder for me.\u201d<\/p>\n In it, she detailed abuse by her mother and sexual harassment at the age of 8 by a 30-year-old man her family had befriended. There were other tragedies, too \u2014 a bicycle accident at the age of 14 that saw her hospitalized for two years, a rape at age 17 followed by self-harm and suicide attempts, and a later rape by a fellow actor.<\/p>\n Then there were the miscarriages \u2014 one of which, she wrote in her memoir, led to doctors removing her womb without her permission.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was kind of ironic because I was talking about things I had paid a fortune to psychiatrists to make me forget. So it was very painful bringing them back. I thought they were a bit morbid. I think I\u2019m a bit morbid. I\u2019m Irish,\u201d she told The Guardian<\/em> of the book.<\/p>\n The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Elsewhere in her interview with The Guardian,<\/em> Fricker spoke about her age and health, saying, \u201cI\u2019m having a dreadful death. I\u2019m just dying, every day in pain,\u201d while also adding, \u201cI\u2019ll probably live to be 100.\u201d<\/p>\n The actress had also publicly spoken about loneliness in her older years, saying in a 2020 appearance on The Ray D\u2019Arcy Show<\/em><\/a> that the holiday season was a challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I do find very difficult is New Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d she said, acknowledging that she had \u201cno one to turn around to hug or smile at\u201d when her local church bells rang at midnight to usher in the new year.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t get away from the bells,\u201d she added at the time.<\/p>\n Fricker\u2019s agent Phil Belfield confirmed the actress\u2019 death in a statement to BBC, saying, \u201cWe will never see her like again, and the world is lesser for the lack of her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d he said in the statement.<\/p>\n Per Hello<\/a>!, Belfield said the actress passed away following a period of ill health.<\/p>\n