Susan Mary Theresa FitzGerald (28 May 1949 – 9 September 2013) was an Irish actress, best known for her work in television and her work in Irish theatre. She also played the role of May in

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

's ''

Footfalls ''Footfalls'' is a play by Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work ...

'' for the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Ge ...

's ''

Beckett on Film ''Beckett on Film'' was a project aimed at making film versions of all nineteen of Samuel Beckett's stage plays, with the exception of the early and unperformed ''Eleutheria''. This endeavour was successfully completed, with the first films bei ...

'' project. At her death she was hailed as "one of Ireland's best known stage actresses" and "the pre-eminent stage actress of her generation and beloved of theatre audiences."

Biography

Born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, England, she was the eldest of six children born to William FitzGerald, a GP, and his wife, Emily Irwin; her parents moved to Leicester from Dublin during the Second World War. She was educated at Evington Hall convent school in Leicester; her family moved back to Kinsale, in County Cork, in 1966. FitzGerald met Michael Colgan, later a prominent director, soon after entering

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in 1968, where she read English, philosophy and history. They married while they were active with the Trinity Players and later had three children: Sarah, Sophie, and Richard. FitzGerald and Colgan divorced in 2010 after a long separation, but they remained on good terms.

Career

Starting in the 1970s, FitzGerald played leading roles in productions, by both Irish and non-Irish European writers, at the

. She was particularly known for having played May in ''Footfalls'' in the Gate's Beckett Festival in New York and London, and for having filmed ''Footfalls'' for the ''Beckett on Film'' project. She also worked for the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

, in plays such as ''

Six Characters in Search of an Author ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' ( it, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, link=no ) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921. An absurdist fiction, absurdist metatheatrical, metatheatric play about th ...

'', ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' and ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been can ...

''. More recently at the Gate, she appeared as Lady Bracknell in ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'', as Mrs. Bennett in ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' (she reprised the role in the

Spoleto Festival The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conce ...

in Charleston), in ''Jane Eyre'' (directed by

Alan Stanford Alan Stanford (born 1949) is an English-Irish actor, director and writer. He has worked in the theatre for many years, including a 30 year association with the Gate Theatre as both actor and director. He is well known for playing George Manning ...

), in ''The Eccentricities of a Nightingale'' (directed by

Dominic Cooke Dominic Cooke (born 1966) is an English director and writer. Early life Born in Wimbledon, south London, Cooke was brought up seeing a lot of theatre as a teenager from free theatre tickets provided by the Inner London Education Authority. ...

), and in

Martin Crimp Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

's adaptation of ''

The Misanthrope ''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (french: Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris b ...

'', as well as in ''

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

'' and in ''

The Constant Wife ''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair. A “sparkling comedy o ...

''. She appeared in a variety of other projects in Ireland, including various plays at the Olympia Theatre. Her television work included numerous appearances in ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several award ...

'', ''Rebel Heart'', ''Bachelor's Walk'', ''Proof'' and ''The Big Bow Wow''. She appeared in such feature films as '' Trouble With Sex'', ''Satellites and Meteorites'' and ''

Happy Ever Afters ''Happy Ever Afters'' is an Irish film written and directed by Stephen Burke and starring Sally Hawkins and Tom Riley. The film was first shown at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea on 10 October and released on 21 October 2009 ...

''.

Death

FitzGerald died, aged 64, from cancer, which had been diagnosed in 2005.

Selected filmography

Film

* ''

'' - Mrs. Maguire * ''Satellites & Meteorites'' - Angela Gore * '' Trouble with Sex'' - Rosie * ''

'' (short) - May * ''

Angela's Ashes ''Angela's Ashes: A Memoir'' is a 1996 memoir by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt, with various anecdotes and stories of his childhood. The book details his very early childhood in Brooklyn, New York, US but focuses primarily on his life ...

'' - Sister Rita * ''

The Serpent's Kiss ''The Serpent's Kiss'' is a 1997 British romantic drama film directed by Philippe Rousselot. Set in late-17th-century England, it tells the story of a Dutch garden architect, Meneer Chrome (Ewan McGregor), who has been hired by a wealthy merchant ...

'' - Mistress Clevely * ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional alter ...

'' (1977) - Emma

Television

* ''

The Big Bow Wow ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' - Patricia * ''

Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a con ...

'' - Beatrice Cosgrove * ''

The Irish R.M. ''The Irish R.M.'' is a trilogy of books by the Anglo-Irish novelists Somerville and Ross and a 1983 television comedy-drama series based on them. They are set in the turn-of-the-twentieth-century west of Ireland. Books The television series ...

'' - Miss Longmuir

References

External links

*
Fitzgerald's listing through her agency
of ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGerald, Susan 1949 births 2013 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish film actresses Irish stage actresses Irish television actresses Actresses from Dublin (city) People from Leicester English people of Irish descent English film actresses Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland Deaths from colorectal cancer 20th-century Irish actresses 21st-century Irish actresses