Birth Place: Washington, DC, USA
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 1953–54, 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).
She has won 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 has been nominated for Tony Awards five other times, including for her roles in the original Broadway casts of Equus (1975) and On Golden Pond (1979), as well as for Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1972), the musical Angel (1978), which was based on Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel, and the 2002 revival of Paul Osborn's Morning's at Seven.
She 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. Sternhagen took over the role after the show moved to the John Houseman Theatre and played it for more than two years. Her off-Broadway awards include two nominations for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play 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.
Sternhagen appeared as the Daughter in the original 1971 Broadway production of Edward Albee's All Over with Colleen Dewhurst and Jessica Tandy. 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.
In 2013, Sternhagen was awarded the Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement.
[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]Romantic Comedy Blanche
[1983]Independence Day Carla Taylor
[1988]Bright Lights, Big City Clara
[1989]Communion Dr. Janet Duffy
[1989]See You in the Morning Neenie
[1990]Misery Virginia
[1990]Sibling Rivalry Rose Turner
[1991]Doc Hollywood Lillian
[1992]Raising Cain Dr. Waldheim
[1998]It All Came True Amy
[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
Cheers Esther Clavin
ER Millicent Carter
Law & Order Estelle Muller, Margaret Langdon
Sex and the City Bunny MacDougal
The Closer Willie Ray Johnson
Frances Sternhagen
Frances Sternhagen
Frances Sternhagen
Frances Sternhagen, Morning's at Seven
Frances Sternhagen , Long Day's Journey Into Night
Frances Sternhagen, The Heiress
Frances Sternhagen, On Golden Pond
Frances Sternhagen
Frances Sternhagen, On Golden Pond
Frances Sternhagen , Angel
Frances Sternhagen, Equus
Frances Sternhagen , The Good Doctor
Frances Sternhagen, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
Frances SternhagenThe Room
Frances SternhagenA Slight Ache
Frances Sternhagen, The Admirable Bashville
Frances Sternhagen has appeared on Broadway in 24 shows.
Frances Sternhagen has not appeared in the West End.
Frances Sternhagen has been nominated for various awards throughout her career. These nominations include the Lifetime Achievement at the Obie Awards, The Helen Hayes Tribute at the Helen Hayes Awards, the Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence at The Lortels, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "Morning's at Seven," Outstanding Actress - Play at the Drama Desk Awards for "Long Day's Journey Into Night," Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "The Heiress," Outstanding Actress - Play at the Drama Desk Awards for "On Golden Pond," Distinguished Performance Award at the Drama League Awards, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "On Golden Pond," Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical at the Tony Awards for "Angel," Outstanding Featured Actress - Play at the Drama Desk Awards for "Equus," Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "The Good Doctor," Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window," Performance at the Obie Awards for "The Room," Performance at the Obie Awards for "A Slight Ache," and Distinguished Performance (Actress) at the Obie Awards for "The Admirable Bashville."
Frances Sternhagen has won several awards throughout her career, including the Lifetime Achievement at the Obie Awards, The Helen Hayes Tribute at the Helen Hayes Awards, the Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence at The Lortels, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "The Heiress," a Distinguished Performance Award at the Drama League Awards, Outstanding Featured Actress - Play at the Drama Desk Awards for "Equus," Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "The Good Doctor," Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play at the Tony Awards for "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window," a Performance at the Obie Awards for "The Room," a Performance at the Obie Awards for "A Slight Ache," and a Distinguished Performance (Actress) at the Obie Awards for "The Admirable Bashville."
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