WORDS: HENRY LONGDEN
When the consultant informed FitzGerald of the little time she had left, she responded, ‘You poor thing, having to give me that bad news’.
Susan FitzGerald, who died at the age of 64 on September 9th, was as familiar with the Dublin theatre scene as her family line would suggest. She was the niece and goddaughter of Geraldine FitzGerald, the film and broadway star from Wicklow. Other relatives included playwright Dennis Johnson and actor Tara FitzGerald. To dwell on her lineage, however, is to do an injustice to the personal brilliance of her career which was largely centred around the North Side’s two major theatres, the Gate and Abbey. Notable performances were seen with her understanding of Beckett and Friel but she reached far beyond the Irish repertoire, with casting roles in Zola (Madame Raquin), Dickens (Great Expectations), Stoppard (Arcadia) and Ibsen (Hedda Gabler). Her film and TV roles were overshadowed by her prevalence on stage, but included Angela’s Ashes, The Serpent’s Kiss and Fair City. The Minister of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, called her the ‘pre-eminent stage actress of her generation’.
Spending her early years in Leicester, the eldest of six children she was educated at Evington Hall convent school. The family moved back to Ireland when she was aged ten after her father took over a GPs practice in Kinsale — Susan and her sister remarkably commuted back to boarding school, keeping their same Latin teacher for their final exams. Her subsequent time reading English, Philosophy and History at Trinity were undeniably formative years as she met her husband-to-be Michael Colgan who would go on to take over as artistic director at the Gate. Other peers and friends included a prosperous Players’ contingent including Frank McGuinness, Chris de Burgh and Paolo Tullio. Marrying in her twenties, the couple had three children, Sarah, Sophie and Richard. At the funeral last Wednesday, Sarah said that their mother “taught all three of us what it is to love unconditionally, [and gave us] the gift of great confidence.”
Her acting career continued while raising her children. Despite distraction, she believed and once said that “great actors have to live and eat and breathe their craft”, and she did. Travelling to play May in Footfalls as part of Colgan’s Beckett festival in New York, 1996; London, 1999; and finally filming it in 2000. She expressed a need for balance in the Irish woman’s dedication to their children and careers, no longer an either/or. Her tenderness would always win over in the end however, she once told the Independent “if I had a choice and one thing had to go, I would turn down the play, film, whatever. But I still think that was the right decision.”
Her prolific career showcased a woman of great elegance and wit; one critic wrote of her Beckett role, “Fitzgerald was particularly powerful in her ability to vocalize the soul’s angst through the musicality of her world-weary voice.” This was one of her most unsung qualities, the power to understand and present tragedy without desperation. Her pure reason and generosity in the face of tragedy continued to the end. Staff who were alongside her as her health deteriorated in the fight against cancer spoke of the understanding and humanity she displayed during her last days. When the consultant informed FitzGerald of the little time she had left, she responded, “You poor thing, having to give me that bad news”.
Respect of her legacy will undoubtedly be carried on in the Dublin arts community, especially by the many friends who showed their support last week. The attendees at her funeral in Rathgar express the loss of one of the most deeply loved actors in the country. Guests included Brian Friel, Garry Hynes, Jeremy Irons, Sinéad Cusack, Stephen Rea, Frank Kelly and Fiach Mac Conghail of the Abbey. She was a woman who both shocked and soothed many through the display of the weariness of the world’s tragedies.
