Elizabeth Franz, the Tony-winning actress best known for her role in the 1999 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, has died at 84.
Franz passed away at her home in Woodbury, Connecticut, after a battle with cancer, her husband, screenwriter Christopher Pelham, told The New York Times.
A powerhouse on stage, Franz earned Tony nominations in 1983 and 2002 for her standout roles as Kate Jerome (Matthew Broderick’s mom) in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs and the youngest of four sisters in the Morning’s at Seven revival, sharing the stage with Piper Laurie, Frances Sternhagen, and Estelle Parsons.
She also won an Obie Award in 1980 for her performance as the strict nun in Christopher Durang’s Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You.
Franz’s career extended to television, with memorable appearances in Roseanne, Gilmore Girls, Law & Order, Cold Case, Dear John, and Judging Amy.
Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, Elizabeth Jean Frankovitch moved to New York City to chase her acting dreams.

+6
View gallery
Elizabeth Franz, the Tony-winning actress best known for her role in the 1999 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, has died at 84

+6
View gallery
It was her portrayal of Linda Loman in the 50th-anniversary Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in 1999 that truly cemented her legacy — a role that won her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Her dadJ oseph worked in a tire factory, and her mom Harriet, a part-time waitress, battled mental illness and would disappear for months at a time.
‘I remember holding onto my father and saying, ‘She’ll come back,’’ Franz told The Times in 1999.
As she recalled in a 2004 interview with What’s On Stage, she quickly found her place in New York City, making a mark both on Broadway and beyond.
‘Our neighbor had friends there, way up in the Bronx, and I stayed with them for my first year, and then I got digs with four others,’ Franz explained.
She also shared, ‘I trained at the same place and at the same time as M Emmet Walsh, with whom I am reunited in this production: the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York, from 1961 to 1962.
‘After that, we both went to summer stock in Dorset, Vermont, and we did a play a week for 20 weeks.’
It was her portrayal of Linda Loman in the 50th-anniversary Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in 1999 that truly cemented her legacy — a role that won her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Franz had first brought Linda to life at Chicago’s Goodman Theater before taking the character to Broadway in February 1999.

+6
View gallery
Her personal life included a first marriage to character actor Edward Binns, who died in 1990

+6
View gallery
Born and raised in Akron, Ohio , Elizabeth Jean Frankovitch moved to New York City to chase her acting dreams

+6
View gallery
She appeared on daytime soaps like As the World Turns and Another World, and had memorable turns on prime-time favorites including Roseanne, The Equalizer, Sisters, and Gilmore Girls (pictured)
Miller himself, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, praised her performance, saying she ‘has discovered in the role the basic underlying powerful protectiveness, which comes out as fury, and that in the past, in every performance I know of, was simply washed out.’
Franz brought the Linda Loman character back to life in a 2000 TV adaptation of Death of a Salesman, earning an Emmy nomination for her performance.
Franz’s career extended far beyond the stage.
She appeared on daytime soaps like As the World Turns and Another World, and had memorable turns on prime-time favorites including Roseanne, The Equalizer, Sisters, and Gilmore Girls.
On the big screen, she appeared in the 1995 Sabrina remake with Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear.
Her personal life included a first marriage to character actor Edward Binns, who died in 1990.
The two had shared the stage multiple times, portraying Mary and James Tyrone Jr. in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Indiana Repertory Theater in 1975, and again in Miller’s A View From the Bridge at the Berkshire Theater Festival in 1981.
Franz is survived by her husband Pelham and her brother, Joe.
News
“My World Stopped That Day”: Grandmother’s Raw Heartbreak Revealed After Queensland Truck Cra:sh Claims the Lives of Her Daughter and Beloved Granddaughter
A grandmother is facing unimaginable heartbreak after losing both her daughter and granddaughter at the same time in a devastating…
“I L0st the Love of My Life”: Snoop Dogg’s Daughter Cori Broadus Reveals Devasta:ting L0ss of Her 10-Month-Old Baby Girl
Snoop Dogg and Cori Broadus; Cori Broadus holding her daughter.Credit : Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty;Cori Broadus/Instagram Snoop Dogg’s daughter, Cori Broadus,…
NDIS Cutbacks, Silent Struggle, D-e-a-dly End: The Hidden Pressure Inside the Mosman Park Mur-der-Suici-de Trag:edy
A friend of the family that were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Mosman Park say the children’s National…
Second Note Discovered by Police After Family of Four Found D-e-a-d — Friends Reveal Hidden Truth Behind the Mur-der-Sui-cide, Claim “The Real K-i-l-ler Was Something Else”
A second letter was discovered inside the home of a family found dead in a suspected double murder-suicide in Perth. The…
⚖️ Char:ges Vanish Overnight — YNW Melly Courtroom B0mbshell Leaves Fans Stunned as Legal Landscape Shifts Without Warning
The legal world — and the internet — is buzzing tonight after a shocking and unexpected courtroom twist involving YNW…
💔 “You See Who’s Really With You in the Dark” — Lil Durk’s Cryptic Ja-il Message Sparks Chaos as Fans Claim India Royale Has Moved On
Lil Durk is once again at the center of an emotional firestorm — and this time, it’s not about charts,…
End of content
No more pages to load



