Brown, Christy (1932-1981), an Irish novelist and poet, overcame major physical disability to become a popular and much admired author. Brown’s autobiography, My Left Foot (1954), became an international best seller. It was reissued in 1972 as The Childhood Story of Christy Brown.
Brown was born on June 5, 1932, in Dublin, the 10th of 22 children. He suffered from cerebral palsy from birth and was paralyzed in all parts of his body except his left foot. Until he was 5 years old, Brown was considered mentally disabled by his doctors. His mother taught him to read and write. As a teenager, Brown took up painting, holding the brush in his left foot. Gradually his muscle coordination and speech improved through therapy.
Brown had an urge to write from an early age and wrote My Left Foot to earn enough money to purchase an electric typewriter. The book describes Brown’s battle to overcome his physical disability and tells about his life growing up in a poverty-stricken area of Dublin. The success of the book made Brown a literary celebrity at the age of 22. His next book was the autobiographical novel Down All the Days. It took Brown 15 years to write before it was published in 1970. He wrote three more novels—A Shadow on Summer (1974), Wild Grow the Lilies (1976), and A Promising Career (published in 1982, after his death on Sept. 6, 1981). His Collected Poems was also published in 1982.
A revival of interest in Brown’s life occurred with the filming of My Left Foot. This motion picture won international acclaim and earned Daniel Day-Lewis the 1989 Academy Award for best actor for his performance as Christy. Brenda Fricker, who played Christy’s mother, won the award for best supporting actress.
