It would take several lifetimes for most people to achieve even half of what beloved Irish actress, Fionnula Flanagan has accomplished at the age of 84, making today a birthday worth celebrating.
Flanagan, an Emmy Award-winner that is undeniably one of Hollywood's most quietly influential performers, has a career that spans more than six decades and nearly ever performance medium. She's performed on the stage, radio, small screen, and silver screen, in multiple languages. And though you may not know her name, chances are you know her work.
Flanagan got her start on the stages of her native Ireland, where she became widely respected for her particularly for the ambitious one-woman production James Joyce's Women, in which she portrayed multiple female characters from Joyce's writing. The performance became one of the most distinctive literary-theatrical hybrids of its time, later adapted into a 1985 film, for which she penned the script and also starred.
Over the years, Flanagan moved seamlessly between genres. In 1976, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her work in the NBC drama series Saints and Sinners. Her television resume continued to expand with appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise, Northern Exposure and How the West Was Won, further establishing her as a versatile character actress.
A new generation of viewers came to know her in the early 2000s, thanks to memorable roles in two of the decade's most talked-about projects: she played the haunting housekeeper Mrs. Mills in Alejandro Amenábar's critically acclaimed thriller The Others and appeared as Eloise Hawking in the hit series Lost, a character whose storyline became central to the show's mythology.
Fionnula Flanagan shares a scene with Henry Ian Cusick on LOST in 2006. (Photo by Mario Perez/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)Across every medium, Flanagan built a career on emotional clarity and fearlessness in her choices. Few actors can claim to have left such an imprint on literature-inspired theater, prestige television, psychological horror and independent film, all with the same quiet command and consistency.
The octogenarian shows no sign of slowing down or retreating into the shadows as she ages. Her most recent film, Four Mothers, showcases her mastery of her craft. Her character, Alma, finds herself unable to speak in the aftermath of a stroke, a challenge most actors might not readily accept. Flanagan, however, rose to the occasion. But, despite good reviews, Flanagan admits to finding the film difficult to make.
"I don’t think I'll do that again," she told The Guardian. “I really missed having my voice available. I’ve never done a role where I didn’t have the use of my main instrument. I value my voice, and the temptation to use it was so strong. I had to just bite my tongue.”
At 84, Flanagan continues to use her voice as loudly and as openly as she can. An activist and advocate for peace, she's not afraid to speak her mind when it comes to her personal beliefs.
But her true love? The theater.
"I am a theatre animal," she said in an interview. “" could live in a theatre. My prayer is that I'll drop dead in the wings at the end of the third act. That way they won’t have to make excuses to the audience.”
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