NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK: Frances Sternhagen, a two-time Tony Award-winning actress, died at the age of 93.
Sternhagen played leading roles in stage productions of 'Driving Miss Daisy' and 'On Golden Pond' as well as memorable characters on TV shows like 'Cheers' and 'Sex and the City.'
She died on Monday, November 27, 2023, at her home in New Rochelle, New York from "natural causes."
Frances Sternhagen won two Tonys and was nominated for five more
Sternhagen won two Tonys as a featured actress in a play for her performances in two different productions.
In a 1995 Broadway revival of 'The Heiress,' based on Henry James’s novel 'Washington Square,' she was Cherry Jones’s well-meaning, matchmaking Aunt Lavinia.
In 'The Good Doctor,' Neil Simon’s 1973 take on Chekhov, she played multiple roles in comedy sketches.
The New York stage celebrated star also received Tony nominations for her roles in the original productions of 'On Golden Pond,' 'Equus' and the musical 'Angel' and in revivals of 'Morning’s at Seven' and 'The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,' as per Deadline.
Frances Sternhagen was known for her versatility and longevity
Sternhagen, as per New York Times, came into her own in mature Off-Broadway roles: as the strong-willed 70-something-and-up Southern widow in Alfred Uhry’s 'Driving Miss Daisy' in 1988, when she was still in her 50s, and the concerned retirement-age wife in Ernest Thompson’s 'On Golden Pond' in 1979, when she was 49.
She achieved lasting and widespread recognition for her comedically stern portrayal of Esther Clavin, the demanding mother of insufferable postman Cliff Claven on 'Cheers.'
She received three Emmy Award nominations, two for 'Cheers' and one for 'Sex and the City.' She also appeared in about two dozen movies, including 'Starting Over' (1979), 'Bright Lights, Big City' (1988), and 'Misery' (1990).
Frances Sternhagen was a devoted mother and grandmother
Sternhagen, who was born on January 13, 1930, in Washington, DC, was the only child of John Meier Sternhagen, a United States tax court judge, and Gertrude (Wyckoff) Sternhagen, a World War I nurse who became a homemaker.
Sternhagen, who married fellow actor Thomas Carlin, was known to reject movie roles for having to be away from the family and is survived by her six children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Her son, the actor John Carlin, announced her death on Instagram, writing: “Frannie. Mom. Frances Sternhagen. On Monday night, Nov 27, she died peacefully at her home, a month and a half shy of her 94th birthday. Fly on, Frannie. The curtain goes down on a life so richly, passionately, humbly and generously lived.”
