# Frances Sternhagen

Frances Hussey Sternhagen (January 13, 1930 – November 27, 2023) was an American actress. She was known as a character actress who appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on television for over six decades. Sternhagen received numerous accolades, including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and a Saturn Award, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Sternhagen gained acclaim for her extensive career on the Broadway stage. She made her debut in The Skin of Our Teeth (1955). She went on to receive two Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performances as various characters in Neil Simon's comedic play The Good Doctor (1973) and as Lavinia Penniman in Ruth and Augustus Goetz's dramatic play The Heiress (1995). Her other Tony-nominated roles were for The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1972), Equus (1975), Angel (1978), On Golden Pond (1979), and Morning's at Seven (2002).
She gained prominence and Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her recurring roles as Esther Clavin in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1986–1993) and Bunny MacDougal in the HBO series Sex and the City (2000–2002). She also had recurring roles in the NBC medical drama ER (1994–2009), and the TNT series The Closer (2006–2012). Sternhagen acted in numerous films, including The Hospital (1971), Starting Over (1979), Misery (1990), and Julie & Julia (2009).

## Early life and education

Frances Hussey Sternhagen was born in Washington, DC, on January 13, 1930. Her father was tax court judge John M. Sternhagen and her mother was a homemaker who served as a nurse during World War I. She was educated at the Madeira and Potomac Schools in McLean, Virginia. At Vassar College, she was elected head of the Drama Club "after silencing a giggling college crowd at a campus dining hall with her interpretation of a scene from Richard II, playing none other than Richard himself". She attended the Catholic University of America as a graduate student. She also studied at the Perry Mansfield School of the Theatre, and at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse.

## Career
### 1948–1973: Early work

Sternhagen started her career teaching acting, singing, and dancing to school children at the Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and she first performed in 1948 at a Bryn Mawr summer theater in The Glass Menagerie and Angel Street. She went on to work at Washington's Arena Stage from 1953 to 1954, then made her Broadway debut in 1955 as Miss T. Muse in The Skin of Our Teeth. The same year, she had her off-Broadway debut in Thieves' Carnival, and her TV debut in The Great Bank Robbery on Omnibus (CBS). By the following year, she had won her first Obie Award for "Distinguished Performance (Actress)" in The Admirable Bashville (1955–56).
Sternhagen made her film debut in Up the Down Staircase (1967). Following this, she worked periodically in Hollywood. She had character roles in the Paddy Chayefsky-written The Hospital (1971), Two People (1973), and Billy Wilder's Fedora (1978). Sternhagen appeared as the daughter in the original 1971 Broadway production of Edward Albee's All Over with Colleen Dewhurst and Jessica Tandy. She worked for many years in soap operas, such as Another World, The Secret Storm, Love of Life, and The Doctors, and she played two roles on One Life to Live. She is also recognized as Mrs. Marsh from a series of television commercials for Colgate toothpaste that aired in the 1970s.

### 1974–1993: Theater roles and Cheers

Sternhagen won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 1974 for the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's The Good Doctor. She was also nominated for Tony Awards in that decade for her roles in Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1972), Equus (1975), the musical Angel (1978), which was based on Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel, and On Golden Pond (1979). She was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play in 1979 for On Golden Pond. Sternhagen portrayed the title character in 1988's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Driving Miss Daisy, which was originated by Dana Ivey at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. Sternhagen took over the role after the show moved to the John Houseman Theatre and played it for more than two years.
During this time, Sternhagen appeared as Charles Durning's strong-willed wife in Starting Over (1979) with Burt Reynolds and Jill Clayburgh, the acerbic and tough-as-nails Dr. Marian Lazarus opposite Sean Connery in Outland (1981), a turn that garnered her a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, and played roles in Bright Lights, Big City (1988) and Doc Hollywood (1991), both alongside Michael J. Fox. Sternhagen's work as Sheriff Buster's (Richard Farnsworth) wife Deputy Virginia in Rob Reiner's Misery (1990), an adaptation of Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name, and her performance as Dr. Lynn Waldheim in Brian De Palma's 1992 psychological horror-thriller Raising Cain garnered her two more career Saturn Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Sternhagen also played Farrah Fawcett's mother in See You in the Morning (1989). She may be best known to TV audiences as Esther Clavin, mother of John Ratzenberger's Boston postman character Cliff Clavin, on the long-running series Cheers, which she played from 1986 to 1993. For her performance, she received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

### 1994–2014: Final roles

Sternhagen won a second Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 1995 for the revival of The Heiress. She received her seventh and final Tony Award nomination for the 2002 revival of Paul Osborn's Morning's at Seven. Sternhagen's later television roles included Millicent Carter on ER; Bunny MacDougal, mother of Charlotte's first husband Trey, on Sex and the City (another Emmy Award nomination); a memorable Willie Rae Johnson (mother of Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by Kyra Sedgwick) on The Closer; and Law & Order, among other network dramas and sitcoms. She recorded a voice-over for a May 2002 episode of The Simpsons ("The Frying Game").
In the summer of 2005, she starred in the Broadway production of Steel Magnolias along with Marsha Mason, Delta Burke, Christine Ebersole, Lily Rabe, and Rebecca Gayheart. She also starred in the 2005 revival of Edward Albee's Seascape, produced by Lincoln Center Theater at the Booth Theater on Broadway. She received Drama Desk Award nominations in 1998 for a revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (which starred her own son, Paul Carlin, as her character's son, Jamie Tyrone) for the Irish Repertory Theatre and in 2005 for the World War I drama Echoes of the War. In 2013, Sternhagen was awarded the Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement. She is included in the New Rochelle Walk of Fame. Her final film roles included Irene Reppler, one of the numerous local townfolk trapped in a supermarket, in Frank Darabont's horror-chiller The Mist (2007), real-life Joy of Cooking author Irma Rombauer in Julie & Julia (2009), Clearwater Aquarium owner Gloria Forrest in Dolphin Tale (2011), and in her final screen appearance, Claire in the Rob Reiner romantic comedy And So It Goes (2014) starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton.

## Personal life and death

Sternhagen met Thomas A. Carlin while in graduate school and was married to him from 1956 until his death in 1991; the couple had four sons and two daughters.
Sternhagen was a longtime resident of New Rochelle, New York. She died at her home on November 27, 2023, at the age of 93.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | Up the Down Staircase | Charlotte Wolf | |
| 1967 | The Tiger Makes Out | Lady On Bus | |
| 1971 | The Hospital | Mrs. Cushing | |
| 1973 | Two People | Mrs. McCluskey | |
| 1978 | Fedora | Miss Balfour | |
| 1979 | Starting Over | Marva Potter | |
| 1981 | Outland | Dr. Marian Lazarus | |
| 1983 | Independence Day | Carla Taylor | |
| 1983 | Romantic Comedy | Blanche Dailey | |
| 1988 | Bright Lights, Big City | Clara Tillinghast | |
| 1989 | Communion | Dr. Janet Duffy | |
| 1989 | See You in the Morning | Neenie | |
| 1990 | Sibling Rivalry | Rose Turner | |
| 1990 | Misery | Deputy Virginia | |
| 1991 | Doc Hollywood | Lillian | |
| 1991 | Walking the Dog | Antique Dealer | Short film |
| 1992 | Raising Cain | Dr. Lynn Waldheim | |
| 1998 | It All Came True | Amy | |
| 2000 | Midnight Gospel | Ruth | Short film |
| 2001 | Landfall | Emily Thornton | |
| 2001 | The Rising Place | Ruth Wilder | |
| 2002 | Highway | Mrs. Murray | |
| 2007 | The Mist | Irene Reppler | |
| 2009 | Julie & Julia | Irma Rombauer | |
| 2011 | Dolphin Tale | Gloria Forrest | |
| 2014 | And So It Goes | Claire | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1956 | Westinghouse Studio One | Betty | Episode: "The Arena" |
| 1957 | Westinghouse Studio One | Mary | Episode: "My Mother and How She Undid Me" |
| 1957 | Goodyear Television Playhouse | Elizabeth Barnes | Episode: "The House" |
| 1959 | Play of the Week | Eva | Episode: "Thieves Carnival" |
| 1961 | Play of the Week | Unknown | Episode: "In a Garden" |
| 1962 | The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe | Theatre-Goer | TV movie |
| 1962 | The Nurses | Mrs. Harris | Episode: "The Lady Made of Stone" |
| 1964 | The Defenders | Louise Kiley | Episode: "May Day! May Day!" |
| 1964 | Profiles in Courage | Miss Koeller | Episode: "Mary S. McDowell" |
| 1967 | NET Playhouse | Unknown | Episode: "Infancy and Childhood" |
| 1967 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Abigail | Episode: "Soldier in Love" |
| 1967–1968 | Love of Life | Toni Prentiss Davis | TV series |
| 1970 | The Doctors | Phyllis Corrigan | TV series |
| 1971 | NET Playhouse | Unknown | Segment: "Foul!" |
| 1971 | Another World | Jane Overstreet | TV series |
| 1972 | Great Performances | Wilma Atkins | Episode: "The Rimers of Eldritch" |
| 1974 | The Secret Storm | Jessie Reddin | TV series |
| 1974 | Great Performances | Paulina | Episode: "Enemies" |
| 1977 | The Andros Targets | Mrs. Mason | Episode: "In the Event of My Death" |
| 1978 | Who'll Save Our Children? | Nellie Henderson | TV movie |
| 1980 | Mother and Daughter: The Loving War | Mrs. Lloyd | TV movie |
| 1980 | The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg | Mary Richards | TV short |
| 1983 | Prototype | Dorothy Forrester | TV movie |
| 1984 | The Dining Room | Various | TV movie |
| 1985 | Spencer | Millie Sprague | 7 episodes |
| 1986 | Resting Place | Eudora McCallister | TV movie |
| 1986–1993 | Cheers | Esther Clavin | 7 episodes |
| 1987 | At Mother's Request | Berenice Bradshaw | TV movie |
| 1987 | Once Again | Esther | TV movie |
| 1990 | Follow Your Heart | Cloe Sixbury | TV movie |
| 1991 | American Experience | (voice) | Episode: "Coney Island" |
| 1991 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Dora | Episode: "Here's a High Dive Into a Shallow Pool" |
| 1991 | Golden Years | Gina Williams | 7 episodes |
| 1991 | Law & Order | Margaret Langdon | Episode: "The Serpent's Tooth" |
| 1992 | She Woke Up | Noelle | TV movie |
| 1992 | Tales from the Crypt | Effie Gluckman | Episode: "None But the Lonely Heart" |
| 1993 | Labor of Love: The Arlette Schweitzer Story [sv] | Mary Rafferty | TV movie |
| 1994 | Vault of Horror I | Unknown | TV movie |
| 1994 | The Road Home | Charlotte Babineaux | 6 episodes |
| 1994 | Reunion [it] | Tobie Yates | TV movie |
| 1995 | The Outer Limits | Jean Anderson | Episode: "The Choice" |
| 1997 | Law & Order | Estelle Muller | Episode: "Legacy" |
| 1997–2003 | ER | Millicent Carter | 21 episodes |
| 1998 | The Con | Hadabelle | TV movie |
| 1998 | To Live Again | Constance Holmes | TV movie |
| 2000–2002 | Sex and the City | Bunny MacDougal | 10 episodes |
| 2002 | The Laramie Project | Marge Murray | TV movie |
| 2002 | The Simpsons | Mrs. Bellamy (voice) | Episode: "The Frying Game" |
| 2004 | Becker | Naomi | Episode: "Subway Story" |
| 2006–2012 | The Closer | Willie Ray Johnson | 15 episodes |
| 2012 | Parenthood | Blanche Braverman | Episode: "Road Trip" |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1955 | The Skin of Our Teeth | Miss T. Muse |
| 1955 | The Carefree Tree | Widow Yang |
| 1960 | Viva Madison Avenue! | Dee Jones |
| 1962 | Great Day in the Morning | Alice McAnany |
| 1965–1966 | The Right Honourable Gentleman | Mrs. Ashton Dilke |
| 1967 | A Doll's House | Nora Helmer |
| 1967–1969 | You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running | Harriet / Edith / Muriel (standby) |
| 1968–1969 | The Cocktail Party | Lavinia Chamberlayne |
| 1969 | Cock-A-Doodle Dandy | Loreleen |
| 1970 | Blood Red Roses | Various (standby) |
| 1971 | The Playboy of the Western World | Widow Quin |
| 1971 | All Over | The Daughter / The Mistress (standby) |
| 1971 | Mary Stuart | Mary Stuart / Queen Elizabeth (understudy) |
| 1972 | The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window | Mavis Parodus Bryson |
| 1972 | Enemies | Paulina |
| 1973–1974 | The Good Doctor | Performer |
| 1974–1977 | Equus | Dora Strang |
| 1978 | Angel | Eliza Gant |
| 1979–1980 | On Golden Pond | Ethel Thayer |
| 1981 | The Father | Laura |
| 1981–1982 | Grown Ups | Helen |
| 1983–1984 | You Can't Take It with You | Penelope Sycamore |
| 1985 | Home Front | Maurine |
| 1993 | A Perfect Ganesh | Margaret |
| 1995 | The Heiress | Lavinia Penniman |
| 1998 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Mary Cavan Tyrone |
| 1999 | The Exact Center of the Universe | Vada Love Powell |
| 2002 | Morning's at Seven | Ida Bolton |
| 2004 | Echoes of the War | Mrs. Dowey |
| 2005 | Steel Magnolias | Clairee |
| 2005–2006 | Seascape | Nancy |
| 2013 | The Madrid | Rose |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result |
| 1972 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actress in a Play | The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window | Nominated |
| 1973 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actress in a Play | The Good Doctor | Won |
| 1974 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Equus | Won |
| 1974 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Equus | Nominated |
| 1978 | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Musical | Angel | Nominated |
| 1979 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | On Golden Pond | Nominated |
| 1979 | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Play | On Golden Pond | Nominated |
| 1981 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress | Outland | Won |
| 1990 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress | Misery | Nominated |
| 1991 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | Cheers | Nominated |
| 1992 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Cheers | Nominated |
| 1992 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress | Raising Cain | Nominated |
| 1995 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actress in a Play | The Heiress | Won |
| 1998 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Long Day's Journey into Night | Nominated |
| 2002 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Morning's at Seven | Nominated |
| 2002 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | Sex and the City | Nominated |
| 2003 | Satellite Award | Best Supporting Actress - Television | The Laramie Project | Nominated |
| 2004 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Echoes of the War | Nominated |