Fionnula Flanagan

Fionnula Flanagan
Flanagan at a Sinn Féin meeting for the Save Moore Street campaign (18 May 2012)
Born	Fionnghuala Manon Flanagan (1941-12-10) 10 December 1941 Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)	Actress, political activist
Years active	1965–present
Spouse	Garrett O'Connor

Fionnghuala Manon Flanagan (born 10 December 1941), known professionally as Fionnula Flanagan, is an Irish actress who has worked extensively in theatre, film and television.

Early life

Flanagan was born and raised in Dublin, the daughter of Rosanna (née McGuirk) and Terence Niall Flanagan. She grew up speaking both Irish and English fluently. Although her parents were not Irish speakers, they wanted Flanagan and her four siblings to learn the Irish language. She was educated in Switzerland and England. She trained extensively at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and travelled throughout Europe before settling in Los Angeles, California in early 1968.

Career

Flanagan came to prominence in Ireland in 1965 as a result of her role as Máire in the Telefís Éireann production of the Irish language play, An Triail, for which she received the Jacob's Award in Dublin for her "outstanding performance". With her portrayal of Gerty McDowell in the 1967 film version of Ulysses, Flanagan established herself as one of the foremost interpreters of James Joyce.

She made her Broadway debut in 1968 in Brian Friel's Lovers, then appeared in The Incomparable Max (1971) and such Joycean theatrical projects as Ulysses in Nighttown (as Molly Bloom) and James Joyce's Women (1977). It was subsequently filmed in 1983, with Flanagan both producing and playing all six main female roles (Joyce's wife, Nora Barnacle, as well as fictional characters Molly Bloom, Gerty McDowell, etc.). A familiar presence in American television, has appeared in several made-for-TV movies, among them The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975) starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Mary White (1977), The Ewok Adventure (1984) and A Winner Never Quits (1986). She won an Emmy for her performance as Clothilde in the 1976 network miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man.

Flanagan's weekly-series stints have included Aunt Molly Culhane in How the West Was Won (1977), which earned her a second Emmy Award nomination. She did multiple appearances on Murder, She Wrote, one of them as Freida, a secretary aiding Jessica Fletcher in finding a murderer on the episode Steal me a Story (1987). She played Lt. Guyla Cook in Hard Copy (1987), and as Kathleen Meacham, wife of a police chief played by John Mahoney in H.E.L.P. (1990). Flanagan made guest appearances in three of the Star Trek spin-offs. She guest starred in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Dax, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Inheritance as Data's "mother", and she also appeared as the Vulcan Ambassador V'Lar in Star Trek: Enterprise. She guest starred in several episodes of Lost as Eloise Hawking, a recurring character.

She has appeared in numerous films, most notably The Others opposite Nicole Kidman, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood as the eldest Teensy, and Waking Ned. She appeared in television series and stage productions, including the Emmy-nominated miniseries, Revelations, starring Bill Pullman and Natascha McElhone, and in Transamerica, starring Felicity Huffman. From 2006–08, she played Rose Caffee, the matriarch of an Irish-American Rhode Island family on the Showtime drama, Brotherhood.

Personal life and politics

Flanagan appeared with Helen Mirren in Some Mother's Son, written and directed by Terry George, as the militantly supportive mother of a Provisional Irish Republican Army hunger striker in 1981. Subsequently, she spoke at a memorial hosted by Sinn Féin at the Citywest Building in Dublin for Irish republicans and their kin who were killed during the latest installment of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

She and her husband (since 1972), Dr. Garrett O'Connor, an Irish nationalist from Belfast, are known to host parties at their Hollywood Hills home for people in the Irish community. In July 2009, she joined Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams for a series of lectures across the USA supporting Irish unity. In October 2011, she announced her support for Sinn Féin politician Martin McGuinness in his unsuccessful bid for the Irish presidential election.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1967	Ulysses	Gerty MacDowell
1969	Sinful Davey	Penelope
1973	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Felicia
1975	The Legend of Lizzie Borden	Bridget Sullivan
1976	Rich Man, Poor Man	Clothilde
1976	In the Region of Ice	The Sister
1977	Mary White	Sallie White
1980	Mr. Patman	Abadaba
1983	Through Naked Eyes	Dr. Frances Muller
1984	Reflections	Mrs. Charlotte Lawless
1984	Scorned and Swindled	Margaret
1984	The Ewok Adventure	Catarine Towani
1985	James Joyce's Women	Harriet Shaw Weaver
1986	Youngblood	Miss McGill
1986	A Winner Never Quits	Mrs. Wyshner
1986	A State of Emergency	Diane Carmody
1987	P.K. and the Kid	Flo
1991	Death Dreams	Psychic Physician
1991	Final Verdict	Pearl Morton
1992	Mad at the Moon	Mrs. Hill
1993	Money for Nothing	Mrs. Coyle
1994	White Mile	Gena Karas
1996	Some Mother's Son	Annie Higgins
1998	Waking Ned	Annie O'Shea
1999	With or Without You	Irene
1999	A Secret Affair	Drucilla Fitzgerald
1999	Deceit	uncredited
2000	For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story	Sally
2001	The Others	Mrs. Bertha Mills
2002	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Aimee Malissa "Teensy" Whitman
2003	Tears of the Sun	Sister Grace
2004	Blessed	J. Lloyd Samuel
2004	Man About Dog	Olivia
2005	Transamerica	Elizabeth Schupak
2005	Sexual Life	Grandmother
2005	Four Brothers	Evelyn Mercer
2007	Slipstream	Bette Lustig
2008	Yes Man	Tillie
2009	The Invention of Lying	Martha
2009	A Christmas Carol	Mrs. Dilber
2010	Kill the Irishman	Grace O'Keefe
2010	The Guard	Eileen Boyle
2011	Coming & Going	Irma

TV series

Year	Title	Episode	Role
1972	Gunsmoke		Sarah Morgan (credited as Fionnuala Flanagan)
1976	The Streets of San Francisco	"Requiem for Murder"	Emma Simms
1977	How the West Was Won		Molly Cullhane
1990	Beauty and the Beast		Jessica
1987	Murder, She Wrote	"Steal me a Story"
1989	Columbo	"Murder: A Self Portrait"
1993	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine		Enina Tandro
1993	Star Trek: The Next Generation		Juliana O'Donnell (Data's mother)
1993	Murder, She Wrote	"A Killing in Cork"
1993	Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman	"The Circus - The Queen of Hearts"
2002	Star Trek: Enterprise		V'Lar
2003	Murder, She Wrote	"The Celtic Riddle"	Margaret Byrne
2004	Nip/Tuck		Sr. Rita Claire
2007	Paddywhackery		Peig Sayers
2006-2008	Brotherhood		Rose Caffee
2007 & 2009-2010	Lost		Eloise Hawking
2013	Defiance

Awards and honours

IFTA Lifetime Achievement gong at the 9th Irish Film and Television Awards.

External links

• Fionnula Flanagan at IMDb
• Fionnula Flanagan at the Internet Broadway Database
• Fionnula Flanagan at AllMovie
• Fionnula Flanagan at Memory Alpha