Elizabeth Franz, Tony Award-winning actress, dead at 84

Elizabeth Franz, who won a Tony Award for her role in the 1999 Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman,” died on Nov. 4. She was 84.

Franz died at her home in Woodbury, Connecticut. Her husband, Christopher Pelham, said the cause of death was cancer and a severe reaction to the drugs used to treat her.

Franz won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in the role of Linda Loman, the wife of melancholy Willy Loman for the 50th anniversary run of Arthur Miller’s play.

Miller, who won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1949 for “Death of a Salesman,” told The New York Times in 1999 that Franz “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 and Brian Dennehy, who also won a Tony Award for his lead role as Willy Loman, were cast in “Death of a Salesman” in Chicago before the production moved to New York City in February 1999. Franz chose to play her role with a more assertive, outraged approach that contained an element of sexuality.

“You can say anything because you know in the end you’re going be in that bed, curled up and having the most wonderful conversations,” she told the Times in 1999. “When she’s curled up in his arms and she’s singing to him — you can’t tell me that isn’t a very sexual moment.”

“She loves this man,” Franz told The Newark Star-Ledger in 1999. “She feels that her safest place in the world is with this man. But she’s not passive.”

Franz and Dennehy reprised their roles in a 2000 television movie version of the play. Both of them were nominated for Emmy Awards, with Franz earning a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. Dennehy was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.

Franz also received Tony Award nominations for “Brighton Beach Memoirs” in 1983 and for Morning’s at Seven” in 2002.

Frank captured an Obie Award in 1980 for her performance as a strict nun in “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You.”

The versatile actress also appeared in the television soap operas such as “As the World Turns” and “Another World.” Franz would have a presence in several prime-time TV series, including “Roseanne,” “The Equalizer,” “Sisters” and “Gilmore Girls.”

Franz’s movie credits include “The Secret of My Success” (1987), “Jacknife” (1989), “School Ties” (1992), “Sabrina” (1995). “The Substance of Fire” (1996) and “Christmas with the Kranks” (2004).

Elizabeth Jean Frankovitch was born on June 18, 1941, in Akron, Ohio. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1962. During her formative years on stage, Franz performed at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron, the Repertory Theater of St. Louis and the Dorset Playhouse in Vermont.

Franz’s first marriage, to actor Edward Binns, ended with his death in 1990. In addition to Pelham, Franz is survived by her brother.

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