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Oscar-Winning Performer Glen Hansard Dies in Motorcycle Crash
The Irish singer/songwriter/actor starred in ‘Once’ and ‘The Commitments’
Irish musician and actor Glen Hansard was killed in a motorcycle crash near Dublin. He was 56.
Luciano Viti/Getty Images
Academy Award-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard died in a motorcycle crash in Dublin early Wednesday, his management said. He was 56.
ATC Management told broadcaster RTE that Hansard’s family was “deeply shocked and heartbroken” by his death.
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Irish police said a man in his 50s died in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in Lucan on the outskirts of the Irish capital before 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The man, whom they did not name, was treated at the scene but was pronounced dead a short time later.
Hansard combined acting and a musical career. He played a member of a Dublin soul band in the 1991 movie The Commitments and won an Oscar in 2008 for the song “Falling Slowly” from the film Once, in which he starred alongside Markéta Irglová.
In October 2022, AARP named both The Commitments and Once as among the 10 best films set in Ireland.
In 1991, Hansard was part of a big ensemble cast for director Alan Parker's beloved film "The Commitments," which tells the story of an Irish soul band that shoots to fame before fizzling out.
Alamy Stock Photo
He was the long-serving front man for rock band The Frames, half of rock duo The Swell Season and released solo albums including Didn’t He Ramble, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2016.
For years, Hansard led the Christmas Eve charity busk outside Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, where members of the public gathered to see famous Irish musicians perform in aid of the Dublin Simon Community.
At the funeral of The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan in 2023, Hansard performed The Pogues’ song Fairytale Of New York with Irish singer Lisa O’Neill, which prompted dancing in the aisles of the church.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Glen Hansard.”
“A talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland’s cultural landscape over many years,” Martin posted on X.
Hansard is survived by his wife, Maire Saaritsa, and their 3-year-old son, Christy.
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