Elizabeth Franz, the revered actress who captivated audiences on Broadway, earning a Tony Award for her powerful performance in Death of a Salesman, and became a beloved face on television, has died, per parade.com.
She was 84.
Her husband, Christopher Pelham, confirmed that Franz passed away on November 4 following a battle with cancer, compounded by a “severe reaction” to her treatment.
Franz’s career spanned decades, marking her as one of the stage’s most versatile performers. Her most celebrated role was as the long-suffering yet fiercely protective Linda Loman in the 50th-anniversary staging of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
For this performance, she was honoured with the 1999 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Playwright Arthur Miller himself praised her interpretation, noting she “discovered in the role the basic underlying powerful protectiveness, which comes out as fury, and that in the past… was simply washed out.”
Her impressive Broadway legacy includes two other Tony nominations: for Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983) and Paul Osborn’s Morning’s at Seven (2002). She also appeared in major productions like The Cherry Orchard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and The Miracle Worker.
Franz successfully transitioned her talent to both film and television. Many TV viewers will affectionately remember her as Mia Bass in the hit series Gilmore Girls. As the wise proprietor of the Independence Inn, she served as a pivotal motherly figure and mentor to Lorelai (Lauren Graham) during her early days in Stars Hollow.
Her television credits also include guest roles on popular dramas such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Grey’s Anatomy.
On the big screen, Franz appeared alongside Hollywood heavyweights in films such as Jacknife (1989) with Robert De Niro, Sabrina (1995) with Harrison Ford, and the holiday favourite Christmas with the Kranks (2004) with Jamie Lee Curtis.
•Featured image: Elizabeth Franz/Clarence Williams/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
