Glen Hansard, a singer-songwriter who was the frontman of the popular Irish band the Frames and who shared an Oscar for “Falling Slowly,” a wistful song from “Once,” the 2006 film in which he also starred, and which he helped adapt into a Tony-winning musical, died on Wednesday in Dublin. He was 56.
His death was confirmed in a brief statement on his website.
On Wednesday, the Irish police issued a news release about a single-vehicle motorcycle crash that took place in the Lucan area of West Dublin early on Wednesday morning. The release did not name Mr. Hansard, but said that the victim was a man in his 50s. The Irish news media later reported that Mr. Hansard was the victim.
Mr. Hansard, who started out as a busker on the streets of Dublin, formed the Frames in 1990, and the band went on to have multiple hit albums in Ireland. He achieved international fame after starring in “Once,” the tender tale of an Irish street musician and the Czech pianist he falls for. He and his co-star, Markéta Irglová, won an Academy Award for “Falling Slowly,” which is featured in the film.
“You can’t take your eyes off them,” the critic A.O. Scott wrote of Mr. Hansard and Ms. Irglová in a video review for The New York Times, adding that the film was “almost perfect.”
In 2012, a musical version opened on Broadway; it was nominated for 11 Tonys and won eight, including best musical, best leading actor (Steve Kazee) and best director (John Tiffany).
Mr. Hansard had previously had a small role in the 1991 soul-band film “The Commitments,” and said in a 2007 interview with The Times that he had been reluctant to act again.
“I’m a real believer in sticking to your craft,” he said. He eventually accepted the role in “Once” — on the condition that he could flee if the first few days of filming didn’t work out.
Glen James Hansard was born in Dublin on April 21, 1970, to James and Catherine (Cahill) Hansard.
He grew up in a working-class household, he told The Times in 2012, and said his father, a heavy drinker, was prone to bouts of violence. “My dad was quiet, angry, shut down,” he said, “so my thing is: I express everything that’s there. I want to get it all out.”
When an uncle left a guitar behind after being sent to prison, Mr. Hansard picked up the instrument.
“I was kind of in a funny spot; I was getting into trouble,” he said in a recent interview on the podcast Track Star. He soon fell in love with the music of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison.
He dropped out of school in his early teens to busk and play in bands, and when he was about 20 he formed the Frames.
He won a role in “The Commitments,” about a group of working-class young people in Ireland who form a 10-piece soul band, when he tagged along with a friend who was auditioning.
“I fit the bill,” he said. “I had red hair and I played the guitar. I read a couple of lines, and I got the part.”
“Once,” written and directed by John Carney, one of Mr. Hansard’s former bandmates, was filmed in 17 days on a modest budget. It became a hit when a finished cut was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2007.
Mr. Hansard, who initially resisted the idea of turning “Once” into a musical, eventually gave the idea his blessing. “Forget about being correct,” he later recalled telling Mr. Kazee, the actor who played his role on Broadway. “The muse hates correct.”
He had leaned into solo work in the years since “Once,” releasing albums including “Didn’t He Ramble” (2015), which was nominated for a Grammy for best folk album. Mr. Hansard also formed the Swell Season, a folk duo, with Ms. Irglová, his “Once” co-star and his onetime romantic partner.
He campaigned for awareness of homelessness and protested housing shortages. He performed often in an annual Christmas Eve Busk event in Dublin, an event that raises money to help people at risk of becoming homeless.
He is survived by his wife, Maire Saaritsa; a son, Christy; and three brothers.
Mr. Hansard said in the 2012 Times interview that he always found himself singing “within the vernacular of the love song,” but that his music wasn’t simply about romance.
“It’s also the relationship between me and my country, me and my friends, me and myself, me and my god,” he said. “It’s not always about me and my girl. That’s just the language I’ve gotten used to using.”
