Frances Sternhagen, the veteran character actor who won two Tony Awards and became a familiar maternal face to television viewers later in life in such shows as Cheers, ER, Sex and the City and The Closer, has died.
She was 93.
Sternhagen died peacefully of natural causes in her home in Washington, D.C., her son, John Carlin, said in a heartfelt statement posted to Instagram.
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“Frannie. Mum. Frances Sternhagen. On Monday night, Nov 27, she died peacefully at her home, a month and a half shy of her 94th birthday,” Carlin wrote.
“I will post more soon, but for now I just want to give thanks for the remarkable gift of an artist and human being that was Frances Sternhagen. She was beloved by many.”
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“I’m very lucky I was able to call her my mum, my friend, my song and dance partner,” he continued.
“We were together last week, and we spoke Monday afternoon, said how much we loved and missed one another.”
Carlin said he was about to board a plane bound for London when he received the news of her death, where he is now. He revealed he’s performing new songs – one inspired by Sternhagen – there this weekend.
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“She always encouraged my writing, and enjoyed my singing. I’ll fly back very early the next day,” he wrote.
“Fly on, Frannie. The curtain goes down on a life so richly, passionately, humbly and generously lived. 🙏🏻❤️”.
Sternhagen won a Tony for best featured actress in a play in 1974 for her role in Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor and a second one in 1995 for a revival of The Heiress. Her last turn on Broadway was in Seascape in 2005.
She was nominated for Tonys four other times, for starring or featured roles in The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Equus, Angel and Morning’s at Seven. In 2013, she played Edie Falco’s mother in the off-Broadway play The Madrid.
“I have been very fortunate,” Sternhagen told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, California, in 2002.
“And I think a lot of that is because I’m considered a character actor – which really means you can do a variety of things. It doesn’t mean that you can’t do leading parts, because I have. But you’re not limited to playing yourself.”