Elizabeth Franz, Tony-Winning Broadway Actress, Dies At 84

Elizabeth Franz, the Tony-winning actress whose Broadway credits included her Tony Award-winning performance as Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman, died on November 4 at her home in Connecticut. She was 84. Her husband, Christopher Pelham, said the cause was cancer and a severe reaction to treatment.

Franz had previously been Tony-nominated for originating the role of Kate Jerome in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983), returning to the part several years later in Broadway Bound (1986).

A third nomination followed for the 2002 Broadway revival of Paul Osborn’s Morning’s at Seven, in which she appeared alongside Piper Laurie, Frances Sternhagen, and Estelle Parsons.

Elizabeth reprised her performance as Linda Loman in the 2000 televised adaptation of Death of a Salesman, earning an Emmy Award.

Off Broadway, Franz portrayed the title character in Christopher Durang’s Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You in 1981.

Franz’s television work included As the World Turns, Another World, Roseanne, The Equalizer, Sisters, and Gilmore Girls. Her film credits included the 1995 remake of Sabrina and Christmas with the Kranks (2004). She later appeared in several episodes of Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, including a notable 2004 turn as a survivor of assault by a serial offender.