# Elizabeth Franz

Elizabeth Franz (born Betty Frankovitch; 1941) is an American stage and television actress.

## Early years

Franz was born Betty Frankovitch in Akron, Ohio. Her Serbo-Croatian father, Joe Frankovitch, worked at an Akron, tire factory. Her half Irish, half Native American mother, Harriet, had mental problems that sometimes frightened Franz when she was a child. In childhood she decided to become an actress as a way of releasing emotions that she had to hold in while dealing with her parents. She had two brothers and a sister, and she graduated from Copley High School in Copley Township, Ohio, in 1959.
Although her mother never thought Franz would succeed as an actress, she wanted to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) and worked as a secretary at Ohio Edison to save enough money to enroll there. An AADA teacher warned her that despite being a good actress, she might not get roles before she reached age 40.

## Life and career

Billed as Betty Frankovitch, Franz acted at the Weathervane Theater in Akron. She acted with The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 1968-1970.
In 2004–05, she appeared at the Royal National Theatre in London, in the Sam Shepard play Buried Child. She has starred in numerous Off-Broadway and regional theater productions, including the American premiere of Frank McGuinness's Bird Sanctuary. She also appeared in Long Day's Journey into Night, The Glass Menagerie, The Comedy of Errors, Madwoman of Chaillot, The Lion in Winter, A View from the Bridge, The Matchmaker, The Wizard of Oz, Great Expectations, The Model Apartment, and Woman in Mind.
Her "subtly layered performance" as Grandma Kurnitz in the 2017 Weston Playhouse Theatre Company production of Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers was duly noted by Rutland Herald critic Jim Lowe, who deemed Franz's portrayal the "dramatic backbone" of the production, "allowing only traces of the octogenarian's love and humanity to seep through."
Franz's Tony-winning performance as Linda Loman in the 50th anniversary production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman proved a revelation to audiences and author alike, as evidenced by Miller's brief but pointed tribute.
   She has discovered in the role the basic underlying powerful protectiveness, which comes out as fury, and that in the past, in every performance that I know of, was simply washed out.
On television, Franz is most notably a character actor. She became best known for her role as the villainous Alma Rudder on Another World, which she portrayed from 1982–83, while she was performing Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway. She played Helen Wendall on As the World Turns from 1994–95, and appeared as free-spirited beauty salon owner Marsha in three episodes of Roseanne.
She appeared in the series Gilmore Girls, as the inn owner, Mia, and in Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Cold Case, Dear John and Judging Amy.
She has appeared in such feature films and motion pictures as Sabrina, Christmas with the Kranks, The Substance of Fire, The Pallbearer, Thinner, The Secret of My Success, School Ties and Jacknife.

## Personal life

Franz married actor Edward Binns in 1983, and they remained wed until his death in 1990.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | The House of Mirth | Grace Stepney | Television movie |
| 1987 | The Secret of My Success | Grace Foster | |
| 1989 | Jacknife | Pru Buckman | |
| 1991 | Face of a Stranger | | TV movie |
| 1992 | School Ties | Jane Dillon | |
| 1993 | It's Nothing Personal | Unknown | |
| 1993 | Shameful Secrets | Maryanne's Mother | TV movie |
| 1995 | Sabrina | Joanna | |
| 1996 | The Pallbearer | Aunt Lucille | |
| 1996 | The Substance of Fire | Miss Barzakian | |
| 1996 | Thinner | Leda Rossington | |
| 1996 | Twisted | Mrs. Bundrass | |
| 1999 | A Fish in the Bathtub | Bea Greenberg | |
| 2000 | Death of a Salesman | Linda Loman | Television movie |
| 2001 | A Girl Thing | Josephine McCormack | TV movie |
| 2004 | Christmas with the Kranks | Bev Scheel | |
| 2004 | Loopy | Doris Highsmith | Short Film |
| 2005 | The Reader | Sissel | Short Film |
| 2009 | In Memoriam | Woman | Short Film |
| 2009 | Alone | Sarah | Short Film |
| 2015 | Take Me to the River | Evelyn | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | American Playhouse | Doctor | Episode: "Pilgrim, Farewell" |
| 1982 | Another World | Alma Rudder | Episode: "July 30, 1982" |
| 1985 | Spenser: For Hire | Mrs. O'Rourke | Episode: "Original Sin" |
| 1986 | American Playhouse | Mrs. Rice | Episode: "The Rise and Rise and Daniel Rocket" |
| 1987 | The Equalizer | Mrs. Thomas | Season 3: Episodes 1&2: Blood & Wine |
| 1987 | American Playhouse | Dottie McCann | Episode: "Dottie" |
| 1989 | ABC Afterschool Special | Cecile Nelson | Episode: "A Town's Revenge" |
| 1989 | American Playhouse | Unknown | Episode: "Love and Other Sorrows" |
| 1990 | Roseanne | Marsha | 3 episodes |
| 1994–1995 | Sisters | Gladys Lear | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | ABC Afterschool Special | Alice Kelly | Episode: "Notes for My Daughter" |
| 2000–2001 | Judging Amy | Vivian Galloway | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Gilmore Girls | Mia | Episode: "The Ins and Outs of Inns" |
| 2003 | Cold Case | Evelyn Shelby | Season 1: Episode 1: "Look Again" |
| 2003 | An Unexpected Love | Dorothy | Television movie |
| 2004 | Law & Order | Alison Bishop | Episode: "Married with Children" |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Jeannette Henley | Season 6: Episode 4: "Scavenger" |
| 2011 | Homeland | Isabel Samler | Episode: "Marine One" |
| 2012 | Grey's Anatomy | Emma Carroll | Episode: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1982 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You | Nominated |
| 1983 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Brighton Beach Memoirs | Nominated |
| 1990 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special | ABC Afterschool Special | Nominated |
| 1999 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Death of a Salesman | Nominated |
| 1999 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Death of a Salesman | Won |
| 2000 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Death of a Salesman | Nominated |
| 2001 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | Death of a Salesman | Nominated |
| 2002 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Morning's at Seven | Nominated |
| 2002 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Morning's at Seven | Nominated |