Fionnula Flanagan Biography

Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish actress and political activist.

Early life and education

Flanagan was born and raised in Dublin, the daughter of Rosanna (ne McGuirk) and Terence Niall Flanagan. Her father was an Irish Army officer and Communist who had fought in the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War against Franco. Although her parents were not Irish speakers, they wanted Fionnula and her four siblings to learn the Irish language, thus she grew up speaking English and Irish fluently. 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 in early 1968.

Career

Flanagan came to prominence in Ireland in 1965 as a result of her role as Mire in the Telefs ireann 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 film version of Ulysses (1967), Flanagan established herself as one of the foremost interpreters of James Joyce. She made her Broadway debut in Brian Friel's Lovers (1968), 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; toured through 1979), a one-woman show written by Flanagan and directed for the stage by Burgess Meredith. 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, Flanagan has appeared in several made-for-TV movies including 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 Award for her performance as Clothilde in the 1976 network miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man. Her 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).

She made guest appearances in three of the Star Trek spin-offs:

• The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Dax"
• The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Inheritance", in which she played Data's "mother"
• The Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Fallen Hero", playing the Vulcan Ambassador V'Lar

Flanagan guest-starred in several episodes of Lost as Eloise Hawking, a recurring character. She appeared in such films as 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 to 2008, she played Rose Caffee, the matriarch of an Irish-American Rhode Island family on the Showtime drama Brotherhood.

Personal life

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 Fin at the Citywest Building in Dublin for Irish republicans and their kin who were killed during the latest instalment of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Flanagan and her late husband Dr. Garrett O'Connor, an Irish nationalist from Dublin, were known to host parties at their Hollywood Hills home for people in the Irish community. In July 2009, she joined Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams for a series of lectures across the USA supporting Irish unity. In October 2011, she announced her support for Sinn Fin politician Martin McGuinness in his unsuccessful bid in Ireland's 2011 presidential election.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Ulysses	Gerty MacDowell
1969	Sinful Davey	Penelope
1973	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Felicia
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	Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure	Catarine Towani
1985	James Joyce's Women	Harriet Shaw Weaver
1986	Youngblood	Miss McGill
1986	A State of Emergency	Diane Carmody
1987	P.K. and the Kid	Flo
1991	Death Dreams	Margaret Neuberger
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	Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
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	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
2002	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	"Teensy" Whitman
2003	Tears of the Sun	Sister Grace
2004	Blessed	J. Lloyd Samuel
2004	Man About Dog	Olivia
2005	Transamerica	Elizabeth Schupak	Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actress - Film
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	Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actress - Film
2011	Coming & Going	Irma
2013	Angels Sing	Ma
2013	Life's a Breeze	Nan
2014	Song of the Sea	Granny / Macha	Voice
2016	Trash Fire	Violet
2016	Havenhurst	Eleanor Mudgett
2016	Little Secret	Barbara

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Gunsmoke	Sarah Morgan	Episode: "The Drummer"
1972	Bonanza	Meg Dundee	Episode: "Heritage of Anger"
1972	Mannix	Gloria Paget	Episode: "The Crimson Hero"
1975	The Legend of Lizzie Borden	Bridget Sullivan
1976	Rich Man, Poor Man	Clothilde	Episode: "Part II: Chapters 3 and 4" Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1976	The Streets of San Francisco	Emma Simms	Episode: "Requiem for Murder"
1976	Kojak	Molly Braddock	Episode: "A Summer Madness"
1978-1979	How the West Was Won	Molly Cullhane	12 episodes Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
1983	Voyagers!	Molly Brown	Episode: "Voyagers of the Titanic" - Episode 15
1986	A Winner Never Quits	Mrs. Wyshner
1987	Murder, She Wrote	Freida Schmidt	Episode: "Steal Me a Story"
1989	Columbo	Louise	Episode: "Murder: A Self Portrait"
1990	Beauty and the Beast	Jessica Webb	2 episodes
1993	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Enina Tandro	Episode: "Dax"
1993	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Juliana Tainer	Episode: "Inheritance"
1993	Murder, She Wrote	Fiona Griffith	"A Killing in Cork"
1993	Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman	Heart	Episode: "The Circus - The Queen of Hearts"
1995	Murder, She Wrote	Eileen O'Brannon	2 episodes
1998-1999	Poltergeist: The Legacy	Older Woman	3 episodes
2002	Star Trek: Enterprise	V'Lar	Episode: "Fallen Hero"
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Sheila Baxter	Episode: "Escape"
2003	Murder, She Wrote	Margaret Byrne	"The Celtic Riddle", TV movie
2004	Nip/Tuck	Sr. Rita Claire	Episode: "Agatha Ripp"
2005	Revelations	Mother Francine	5 episodes
2007	Paddywhackery	Peig Sayers	6 episodes Nominated-Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Television
2006-2008	Brotherhood	Rose Caffee	25 episodes Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated-Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role - Television Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2007-2010	Lost	Eloise Hawking	7 episodes
2013	Defiance	Nicolette "Nicky" Riordan	5 episodes
2017	Redwater	Agnes Byrne
2017	American Gods	Essie's Grandmother/Old Essie Macgowan	Episode: "A Prayer for Mad Sweeney"

Awards and recognition

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