Frances Sternhagen dead at 93: Sex And The City actress and two-time Tony Award winner passes away from natural causes
Sex And The City actress Frances Sternhagen has died at the age of 93.
The veteran actress died of natural causes in New Rochelle, New York, according to her family.
Her loved ones released a statement Wednesday saying, “We continue to be inspired by her love and life.”
Sternhagen was best known for her role as Charlotte York’s insufferable mother-in-law Bunny MacDougal on Sex and the City from 2000-2002.
Sex And The City actress Frances Sternhagen has died at the age of 93; she is seen in New York in March 2002
Sternhagen was best known for her role as Charlotte York’s insufferable mother-in-law Bunny MacDougal in Sex and the City from 2000-2002 – from left to right Sternhagen, Kyle MacLachlan and Kristin Davis
Playing Kristin Davis’ character’s mother in the highly popular film wasn’t her only signature matriarch role. She also played the overbearing Esther Clavin – who was the mother of John Ratzenberger’s Boston postman, Cliff Clavin (pictured) – in the classic sitcom Cheers
Playing Kristin Davis’ character’s mother in the highly popular film wasn’t her only signature matriarch role, as she also played the overbearing Esther Clavin – who was the mother of John Ratzenberger’s Boston mailman Cliff Clavin – in the classic sitcom Cheers .
The talented stage actor had received Emmy nominations for both roles.
The acting legend also earned two Tony Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Dramatic) in 1974 for the original Broadway production of Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor and in 1995 for the revival of The Heiress.
She was nominated five more times for awards recognizing excellence on Broadway, including being part of the cast of Equus (1975), On Golden Pond (1979), The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window (1972), Angel (1978) and the 2002 revival of Paul Osborn’s Morning’s at Seven.
She definitely had a knack for playing eccentric characters with an overbearing, often no-nonsense attitude.
Sternhagen previously told the newspaper Los Angeles Times in 2002: ‘I have to say it’s fun playing these snobbish older ladies. It’s always more fun to be annoying.
“I’ve known women like that, and I can imitate them, I think.”
Her career spanned 63 years, from 1951 to 2014, when she first began performing on stage on the East Coast.
She definitely had a knack for playing eccentric characters with an overbearing, often no-nonsense attitude; she is depicted in Sex And The City
The acting legend also earned two Tony Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Dramatic) in 1974 for the original Broadway production of Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor and in 1995 for the revival of The Heiress.; she is pictured in New York in July 2009
Sternhagen (seen in July 2009) previously told the Los Angeles Times in 2002, “I have to say it’s fun playing these snobbish older ladies. It’s always more fun to be annoying. I’ve known women like that and I can imitate them, I think.’
The talented star made her film debut in 1967 with Up The Down Staircase, starring Oscar winners Sandy Dennis and Eileen Heckart, along with Patrick Bedford and Jean Stapleton.
She had several big screen roles including The Tiger Makes Out (1967), The Hospital (1971), Bright Lights, Starting Over (1979), Big City (1988), See You In The Morning (1989), Misery (1990) ), The Mist (2007), Julie and Julia (2009), Dolphin Tale (2011) and And So It Goes (2014).
More recently, she played the mother of Kyra Sedgewick’s main character LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in TNT’s The Closer, which aired from 2005 to 2012.
Another notable television role was playing the grandmother – named Millicent ‘Gamma’ Carter – of Noah Wyle’s character John Carter on ER.
Her career spanned 63 years from 1951 to 2014 when she first began performing on stage on the East Coast; she is pictured with Kyra Sedwick in season 2 of The Closer in 2006
Sternhagen (photo in October 2010) is survived by her children Paul, Amanda, Tony, Sarah, Peter and John
In 1955, she starred in an off-Broadway production of Thieves’ Carnival at Cherry Lane, where she met her future husband Thomas A. Carlin.
The two married the following year in 1956 and were together until his death in 1991.
Sternhagen is survived by her children Paul, Amanda, Tony, Sarah, Peter and John.
The iconic actress is being remembered with a celebration of her career and life, scheduled for mid-January, close to what would have been her 94th birthday.