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'Fionnuala Flanagan' (born December 10 1941) is an Irish actress based in Hollywood who has appeared on American TV in ''Rich Man, Poor Man'' and ''Murder, She Wrote'', among others, and in various feature films.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life/politics

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

She was born 'Fionnghuala Manon Flanagan' in Dublin, where she was raised, the daughter of Rosanna (McGuirk) and Terence Niall Flanagan.^[1] She grew up speaking both English and Irish fluently. Although her parents were not native Irish speakers, they wanted Fionnuala and her four siblings to learn the language. Flanagan was educated in Switzerland and England, and she trained at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and traveled throughout Europe before settling in Los Angeles in 1968.

Career

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 1968 Broadway debut in Brian Friel's ''Lovers'', then appeared in such Joycean theatrical projects as ''Ulysses in Nighttown'' (as "Molly Bloom") and ''James Joyce's Women'' (1977). The last-named project earned her Critic's Circle awards in Los Angeles and San Francisco; it was subsequently filmed in 1988, with Flanagan repeating her portrayal of "Harriet Shaw Weaver". A familiar presence in American television, Flanagan has appeared in several made-for-TV movies, among them ''The Legend of Lizzie Borden'' (1975) starring Elizabeth Montgomery, ''Mary White'' (1977), '' (1984) and ''A Winner Never Quits'' (1986). She won an Emmy for her work 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 played "Lt. Guyla Cook" in ''Hard Copy'' (1987) and "Kathleen Meacham", wife of a police chief played by John Mahoney in ''H.E.L.P.'' (1990). Flanagan is also well known for her guest appearances in three of the ''Star Trek'' spin-offs. She guest starred in the '' episode ''Dax'', the '' episode ''Inheritance'' as Data's "mother", and she also appeared as the Vulcan
"Ambassador V'Lar" in ''. She also recently guest starred in the episode ''Flashes Before Your Eyes'' of ''Lost''.
Flanagan has also appeared in numerous films, most notably ''The Others'' opposite Nicole Kidman, and ''Waking Ned Devine'', as well as television series and stage productions - most recently in the Emmy-nominated miniseries, ''Revelations'', starring Bill Pullman and Natascha McElhone, and in ''Transamerica'' starring Felicity Huffman. In 2006, Flanagan began a continuing major role in the eleven-episode Showtime drama ''Brotherhood''. She plays "Rose Caffee", the mother of fictional Rhode Island State Representative Tommy Caffee. ''Brotherhood'' has been picked up for a second season of 10 episodes to air in the summer of 2007, and Flanagan is slated to reprise her role in the drama. She currently resides in Hollywood Hills, California.

Personal life/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.
Flanagan and her husband (since 1972), Dr. Garrett O'Connor, also an Irish nationalist, are known to give lavish parties at her Hollywood Hills home for people in the "Irish community".

Filmography

★ ''Four Brothers'' (2005) - Evelyn Mercer

★ ''Brotherhood'' (2006) - Rose Caffee

References

1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/70/Fionnula-Flanagan.html

External links

★

★ Fionnula Flanagan at the Internet Broadway Database