Elizabeth Franz dead at age 84: Broadway icon and Gilmour Girls actress passes away after cancer battle

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Elizabeth Franz, a Tony Award-winning actress celebrated for her performance in the 1999 Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, has passed away at the age of 84.

Franz died at her home in Woodbury, Connecticut, after fighting cancer, according to her husband, screenwriter Christopher Pelham, in a statement to The New York Times.

Franz is a dynamic performer who received Tony Award nominations for her memorable performances in two plays. In 1983, she was praised for playing Kate Jerome, Matthew Broderick’s mother, in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs. Later, in 2002, she earned another nomination as the youngest of four sisters in a revival of Morning’s at Seven, alongside renowned actresses Piper Laurie, Frances Sternhagen, and Estelle Parsons.

In 1980, she received an Obie Award for her portrayal of a stern nun in Christopher Durang’s play, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You.

Franz also worked in television, appearing in popular shows like Roseanne, Gilmore Girls, Law & Order, Cold Case, Dear John, and Judging Amy.

Elizabeth Frankovitch grew up in Akron, Ohio, but she moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting.

Her father, Joseph, worked at a tire factory, while her mother, Harriet, worked as a part-time waitress and struggled with mental health issues, sometimes leaving for extended periods.

‘I remember holding onto my father and saying, ‘She’ll come back,’’ Franz told The Times in 1999.

In a 2004 interview, she explained that she quickly felt at home in New York City and began to gain recognition on Broadway and in other productions.

Franz explained that he initially stayed with friends of a neighbor who lived in the Bronx for his first year, and then he moved into a shared house with four other people.

She mentioned she and M. Emmet Walsh both studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York, attending classes at the same time from 1961 to 1962, and she was thrilled to be working with him again on this project.

Then, we both spent the summer performing in Dorset, Vermont, putting on a different play each week for twenty weeks.

She truly became a legend after playing Linda Loman in the 1999 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, a performance that earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

Franz originally developed the character of Linda in a production at Chicago’s Goodman Theater, and then brought it to Broadway in February 1999.

Even Arthur Miller, the famous playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner, complimented her acting, noting she’d found the core of the character – a strong, protective instinct that manifests as anger. He felt previous performances had missed this crucial element, instead presenting it weakly.

In a 2000 television version of Death of a Salesman, Franz gave a remarkable performance as Linda Loman, which earned her an Emmy nomination.

Franz’s career extended far beyond the stage. 

She acted in several popular TV shows, including daytime dramas like As the World Turns and Another World, as well as primetime hits such as 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. 

They previously acted together twice: in 1975, they played Mary and James Tyrone Jr. in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Indiana Repertory Theater, and again in 1981, they appeared in Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge at the Berkshire Theater Festival.

Franz is survived by her husband Pelham and her brother, Joe.

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2025-11-15 22:21