Fionnula Flanagan

Notable stage productions she has performed in include Ulysses in Nighttown and The Ferryman, both of which earned her Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. She was honoured with the Maureen O'Hara Award at the Kerry Film Festival in 2011, the award is offered to women who have excelled in their chosen field in film. She was also nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards (winning one) and won a Saturn Award. In 2020, she was listed at #23 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

• Name — Fionnula Flanagan • Birth Name — Fionnghuala Manon Flanagan • Born — 10 December 1941 • Birthplace — Dublin, Ireland • Education — Abbey Theatre School • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1965–present • Works — Filmography

Flanagan was born and raised in Dublin, the daughter of Rosanna (née McGuirk) and Terence Niall Flanagan. Her father was an Irish Army officer and Communist who had fought in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War against Franco's Nationalists. She was educated at Scoil Mhuire on Marlborough Street, the current headquarters of the Department of Education. Although her parents could not speak Irish, they wanted Fionnula and her four siblings to learn the Irish language; thus she grew up speaking both English and Irish fluently.

Flanagan made her acting debut as the lead role of Máire in Máiréad Ní Ghráda's Irish-language play An Triail at the Damer Theatre in 1964. She continued the role in the radio version and rose to national prominence in the Teilifís Éireann television adaptation, for which she won the 1965 Jacob's Award 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.). In 2018 she returned to Broadway in Jez Butterworth's The Ferryman, directed by Sam Mendes. 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 later went on to appear in the Murder, She Wrote film The Celtic Riddle (2003) as Margaret Byrne. 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). She made guest appearances in three of the Star Trek series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in episode "Dax", playing Enina Tandro; Star Trek: The Next Generation in episode "Inheritance", in which she played Juliana Soong (Data's "mother"); and Star Trek: Enterprise in episode "Fallen Hero", playing the Vulcan Ambassador V'Lar. Flanagan guest-starred in several episodes of Lost as Eloise Hawking. 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. • Illustration — In NYC, April 2018

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 Hotel in Dublin for Irish republicans and their kin who were killed during the latest episode of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Flanagan made €3000 worth of donations to the party at the time. Flanagan and her late husband 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 Féin president Gerry Adams for a series of lectures across the US supporting Irish unity. In October 2011, she announced her support for Sinn Féin politician Martin McGuinness in his unsuccessful bid in Ireland's 2011 presidential election.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1965 — Deirdre — Deirdre — Television film • Knock on Any Door — Jenny — Episode: "The Machine Minder" • 1966 — Insurrection — Nora Connolly — Episode: "Nothing in Heaven or Earth" • Broome Stages — Maud — 3 episodes • The Wednesday Play — Eileen — Episode: "Why Aren't You Famous?" • 1967 — Mona — Episode: "A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer's Assistant" • Callan — Rena Clarke — Episode: "Goodbye, Nobby Clarke" • 1968 — Cradle Song — Joanna — Television film • Cold Comfort Farm — Mary Smiling — Episode: "Folk" • 1969 — Some Women — Dianne Richards — Television film • 1972 — Bonanza — Meg Dundee — Episode: "Heritage of Anger" • Mannix — Gloria Paget — Episode: "The Crimson Halo" • Gunsmoke — Sarah Morgan — Episode: "The Drummer" • 1972–1976 — Marcus Welby, M.D. — Barbara Brendan / Maggie — 3 episodes • 1973 — The Picture of Dorian Gray — Felicia — Television film • The New Perry Mason — Nancy Addison — Episode: "The Case of the Horoscope Homicide" • 1974 — The Rookies — Judy Karcher — Episode: "Trial by Doubt" • Shaft — Louise Quayle — Episode: "The Murder Machine" • Hec Ramsey — Nellie O'Shea — Episode: "Only Birds and Fools" • The Godchild — Virginia — Television film • 1975 — The Legend of Lizzie Borden — Bridget Sullivan — Television film • From Sea to Shining Sea — Mary Kennedy — Episode: "The Unwanted" • Movin' On — Laura Brown — Episode: "Love, Death and Laura Brown" • Police Story — Arlene Hansen — Episode: "Company Man" • 1976 — The Streets of San Francisco — Ellen Simms — Episode: "Requiem for Murder" • Rich Man, Poor Man — Clothilde — Episode: "Part II: Chapters 3 and 4" Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series • Medical Center — Karen Atkins — Episode: "Child of Conflict" • Kojak — Molly Braddock — Episode: "A Summer Madness" • The Bionic Woman — Tammy — Episode: "Road to Nashville" • Serpico — Rita Maloney — Episode: "Every Man Must Pay His Dues" • Nightmare in Badham County — Dulcie — Television film • 1977 — Hunter — Episode: "The Chand is Burning" • Mary White — Sallie White — Television film • 1978–1979 — How the West Was Won — Molly Culhane — Main cast (seasons 2–3) Nominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series • 1979 — Young Love, First Love — Audrey Gibson — Television film • 1980 — Here's Boomer — Bronnie Craddock — Episode: "The Vigil" • 1981 — Palmerstown, U.S.A. — Sabrina Parker — Episode: "Roadhouse" • Trapper John, M.D. — Warden Clayton — Episode: "Is There a Doctor in the Big House?" • 1982 — Benson — Rose Sullivan — Episode: "Sweet Irish Rose" • 1983 — Voyagers! — Molly Brown — Episode: "Voyagers of the Titanic" • Through Naked Eyes — Dr. Frances Muller — Television film • 1984 — Fame — Dr. Pettibon — Episode: "Sheer Will" • Scorned and Swindled — Margaret — Television film • Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure — Catarine Towani — Television film • Riptide — Melissa Belancourt — Episode: "Peter Pan Is Alive and Well" • 1984–1988 — Simon & Simon — Dr. Rita Price / Dr. Barbara Bryson / Lydia / Becky — 2 episodes • 1985 — Cagney & Lacey — Arlene Crenshaw — Episode: "The Clinic" • 1986 — A Winner Never Quits — Mrs. Wyshner — Television film • 1987 — Hard Copy — Lt. Guyla Cook — 4 episodes • 1987–1995 — Murder, She Wrote — Freida Schmidt / Fiona Delaney Griffith / Eileen O'Bannon — 4 episodes • 1989 — Hunter — Maureen Delaney — Episode: "Shillelagh" • Columbo — Louise — Episode: "Murder: A Self Portrait" • 1990 — H.E.L.P. — Kathleen Meacham — Main cast • Beauty and the Beast — Jessica Webb — 2 episodes • Father Dowling Mysteries — Mother Margaret — Episode: "The Undercover Nun Mystery" • 1991 — Death Dreams — Dr. Margaret Newberger — Television film • Final Verdict — Pearl Morton — Television film • 1992 — Reasonable Doubts — Mrs. Hooper — Episode: "A Rose is a Rose" • 1993 — Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Enina Tandro — Episode: "Dax" • Star Trek: The Next Generation — Dr. Juliana Tainer — Episode: "Inheritance" • 1994 — Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman — Heart — Episode: "The Circus" • White Mile — Gena Karas — Television film • 1995 — Legend — Julia Grant — Episode: "Legend on His President's Secret Service" • 919 Fifth Avenue — Brydie — Television film • 1998 — Nothing Sacred — Helen Reyneaux — Episode: "The Coldest Night of the Year" • Kings in Grass Castles — Bridget Durack — 2 episodes • To Have & to Hold — Fiona McGrail — Main cast • 1998–1999 — Poltergeist: The Legacy — Narrator / The Older Woman — 3 episodes • 1999 — Chicago Hope — Judge Robin O'Hara — Episode: "Big Hand for the Little Lady" • A Secret Affair — Drucilla Fitzgerald — Television film • 2000 — For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story — Sally Lewis — Television film • 2002 — Star Trek: Enterprise — Vulcan Ambassador V'Lar — Episode: "Fallen Hero" • 2003 — Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle — Margaret Byrne — Television film • 2003–2018 — Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Sheila Baxter / Madeline 'Maddie' Thomas — 2 episodes • 2004 — Nip/Tuck — Sister Rita-Claire — Episode: "Agatha Ripp" • Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks — Grandma O'Mallard — Voice; 2 episodes • 2005 — Revelations — Mother Francine — 4 episodes • 2006–2008 — Brotherhood — Rose Caffee — Main cast 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 — Paddywhackery — Peig Sayers — Main cast Nominated–Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Television • 2007–2010 — Lost — Eloise Hawking — 8 episodes • 2010 — Three Wise Women — Beth — Television film • 2013 — Defiance — Nicolette "Nicky" Riordan — 8 episodes • 2014 — HitRecord on TV — Aunt Abigail — Episode: "RE: Money" • 2014–2016 — Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street — Miss Hudspith — 4 episodes • 2017 — American Gods — Essie's Grandmother / Old Essie Macgowan — Episode: "A Prayer for Mad Sweeney" • Kat & Alfie: Redwater — Agnes Byrne — Main cast • 2018 — Origin — Mia Anderson — Episode: "Funeral Blues" • 2022 — Strike — Oonagh Kennedy — Episode: "Troubled Blood: Part 1" • 2023 — Smother — Caro Noonan — 6 episodes • Sisters — Dymphna — Episode: "This Too Shall Pass" • The Santa Stories — Narrator — Episode: "The Note" • 2024 — Bodkin — Mother Bernadette — 3 episodes • 2025 — Small Town, Big Story — Wendy's Mother — Voice; Episode: "The White Ridge" • 2026 — The Young Offenders — Bridget MacSweeney — Series 5, Episode 5

Fionnula Flanagan is recorded as actress and film producer.