Elizabeth Franz, who won a Tony award for her role in the 1999 Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, has died at the age of 84.
Her husband, Christopher Pelham, told The New York Times that Franz died at her home in Woodbury, Connecticut, on November 4.
Pelham also shared that his wife died of cancer, following a severe reaction to the drugs used to treat her condition. However, her specific type of cancer was not disclosed.
Franz portrayed Linda Loman, the wife of titular character Willy Loman, in the 1999 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. She chose to focus on the sexual relationship between Linda and Willy while in this role, which was an element that wasn’t addressed in the original 1949 play.
“You can say anything because you know in the end you’re going be in that bed, curled up and having the most wonderful conversations,” she told The New York Times in 1999. “When she’s curled up in his arms and she’s singing to him — you can’t tell me that isn’t a very sexual moment.”
Miller also praised Franz’s role in the play and the way in which she portrayed her character’s chemistry with Willy.
“She has discovered in the role the basic underlying powerful protectiveness, which comes out as fury, and that in the past, in every performance I know of, was simply washed out,” Miller said.
He added about the sexual bond between Linda and Willy: “I always assumed [it] was there, but here it is far more emphasized – correctly.”
She also landed Tony nominations for her role in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1983 and for her part in a revival of Paul Osborn’s Morning’s at Seven in 2002.
Franz appeared in several other Broadway shows, including The Cherry Orchard, The Octette Bridge Club, The Cemetery Club, and The Miracle Worker.
Her success continued on the big screen, starring in many hit films in the ‘80s and ‘90s, including Sabrina, Jacknife, The Substance of Fire, and School Ties.
Franz went on to make guest appearances on TV shows including Gilmore Girls, Law & Order: SVU, and Grey’s Anatomy.
In addition to her husband, Christopher Pelham, Franz is survived by her brother, Joe Frankovitch.
She married her first husband, Edward Binns, in 1983, and they were together until he died in 1990 at age 74.
