Current:Home > ScamsFrances Sternhagen, Tony Award winner of 'Cheers' and 'Sex and the City' fame, dies at 93-LoTradeCoin
Frances Sternhagen, Tony Award winner of 'Cheers' and 'Sex and the City' fame, dies at 93
View Date:2024-12-23 20:29:56
NEW YORK — Frances Sternhagen, the veteran character actor who won two Tony Awards and became a familiar maternal face to TV 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. on Monday, her son, John Carlin, said in a statement posted to Instagram Wednesday. "Fly on, Frannie," Carlin wrote. "The curtain goes down on a life so richly, passionately, humbly and generously lived."
Sternhagen's publicist confirmed the death and said it occurred in New Rochelle, New York.
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."
TV viewers knew her as played the rich grandmother of Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle) in the long-running “ER.” On “Cheers” she was the know-it-all mother of postman Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger). The role brought her two Emmy nominations.
More recently, she had a recurring role in “Sex and the City” as Bunny MacDougal, the strong-minded mother-in-law of Charlotte (Kristin Davis), which brought her her third Emmy nomination, and played Kyra Sedgwick’s mother in “The Closer.” Soap opera fans in the 1960s knew her in “Love of Life” as Toni Prentiss Davis, who carried a gun and went mad.
"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."
'Iconic soulstress':Jean Knight, Grammy-nominated singer of 'Mr. Big Stuff,' dies at 80
veryGood! (8137)
Related
- NYC bans unusual practice of forcing tenants to pay real estate brokers hired by landlords
- Michael Oher Subpoenas Tuohys' Agents and The Blind Side Filmmakers in Legal Case
- Bachelorette's Josh Seiter Confirms He's Alive Despite Death Statement
- Elton John spends night in hospital after falling at his home in Nice, France
- How Saturday Night Live Reacted to Donald Trump’s Win Over Kamala Harris
- EPA head says he’s ‘proud” of decision to block Alaska mine and protect salmon-rich Bristol Bay
- Extremely rare Amur tiger dies in 'freak accident' prepping for dental procedure
- $5.6 million bid for one offshore tract marks modest start for Gulf of Mexico wind energy
- Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
- 3M earplugs caused hearing loss. Company will settle lawsuit for $6 billion
Ranking
- Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert Details “Full Circle” Reunion With Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried
- 'Kind of used to it:' Not everyone chooses to flee possible monster Hurricane Idalia
- Breaking impasse, Tennessee lawmakers adjourn tumultuous session spurred by school shooting
- Nebraska tight end Arik Gilbert arrested on burglary charge
- Flurry of contract deals come as railroads, unions see Trump’s election looming over talks
- Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin team up for childhood cancer awareness
- Maui officials search for wildfire victims in ocean as land search ends
- Cops find over 30 dead dogs in New Jersey home; pair charged with animal cruelty, child endangerment
Recommendation
-
Smithfield agrees to pay $2 million to resolve child labor allegations at Minnesota meat plant
-
Alligator on loose in New Jersey nearly a week as police struggle to catch it
-
National Association of Realtors president resigns amid report of sexual misconduct
-
Wisconsin Republicans consider bill to weaken oversight of roadside zoos
-
Tropical Storm Sara threatens to bring flash floods and mudslides to Central America
-
CBS to honor 'The Price is Right' host Bob Barker with primetime special: How to watch
-
Surprise encounter with mother grizzly in Montana ends with bear killed, man shot in shoulder
-
As Trump and Republicans target Georgia’s Fani Willis for retribution, the state’s governor opts out