Elizabeth’s husband, Christopher Pelham, confirms to The New York Times that his wife passed away at home in Woodbury, Connecticut, after battling cancer and suffering a severe reaction to her treatment.
The news has left the theater community, TV fans, and former co-stars heartbroken over the loss of a true force in American acting.
Unforgettable portrayal
Elizabeth Franz wasn’t just a performer, she was a powerhouse.
Among colleagues, she was sometimes referred to as “America’s Judi Dench” — and that’s no small compliment.
Theatergoers in New York first took notice of Franz in the Off-Broadway production of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, where she portrayed a sharp-tongued Catholic nun with fierce convictions.
Franz originated the role herself, and in the process she earned an Obie Award, along with the friendship of several real-life nuns who initially arrived to protest but ended up staying to chat.
”We ran for two years off-Broadway, but made so little money – it was $42 a week, I remember. I was going to have to leave it, because I needed money to live. Then a soap opera came through, so I was able to work all day on that and carry on with the play in the evening,” Franz once shared.
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