By Justin Enriquez For Dailymail.com
19:31 29 Nov 2023, updated 20:15 29 Nov 2023
- The veteran actress passed away peacefully of natural causes in New Rochelle, New York according to her family.
- Her loved ones released a statement on Wednesday which read: ‘We continue to be inspired by her love and life’
- Sternhagen was most famous for her role as Charlotte York’s insufferable mother-in-law Bunny MacDougal in Sex and the City from 2000-2002
Sex And The City actress Frances Sternhagen has died at 93.
The veteran actress passed away peacefully of natural causes in New Rochelle, New York according to her family.
Her loved ones released a statement on Wednesday which read: ‘We continue to be inspired by her love and life.’
Sternhagen was most famous for her role as Charlotte York’s insufferable mother-in-law Bunny MacDougal in Sex and the City from 2000-2002.
Playing the mother to Kristin Davis’ character on the highly-popular was not her only signature matriarch role as she also portrayed the overbearing Esther Clavin – who was the mom of John Ratzenberger’s Boston postman character Cliff Clavin – on classic sitcom Cheers.
The talented thespian had received Emmy nominations for both roles.
The acting legend also earned two Tony Award 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 had been nominated for awards which recognize excellence on Broadway five more times including being part of the casts of Equus (1975), On Golden Pond (1979), The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window (1972), Angel (1978), and the 2002 revival of Paul Osborn’s Morning’s at Seven.
She definitely had a knack for playing eccentric characters who had an overbearing often no-nonsense attitude.
Sternhagen previously told the Los Angeles Times in 2002: ‘I must say it’s fun to play these snobby older ladies. It’s always more fun to be obnoxious.
‘I have known women like that, and I can imitate them, I guess.’
Her career spanned 63 years from 1951 to 2014 as she first began to act on stage on the East Coast.
The talented star made her film debut in 1967 with Up The Down Staircase which starred Oscar-winners Sandy Dennis and Eileen Heckart, along with Patrick Bedford and Jean Stapleton.
She had several big-screen roles including The Tiger Makes Out (1967), The Hospital (1971), Bright Lights, Starting Over (1979) ,Big City (1988), See You In The Morning (1989), Misery (1990), The Mist (2007), Julie and Julia (2009), Dolphin Tale (2011) and And So It Goes (2014).
More recently she played the mother of Kyra Sedgewick’s protagonist character LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in TNT’s The Closer which aired from 2005 to 2012.
Another notable television role included playing the grandmother – named Millicent ‘Gamma’ Carter – of Noah Wyle’s character John Carter on ER.
In 1955 she starred in a off-Broadway production of Thieves’ Carnival at the Cherry Lane where she met her future husband Thomas A. Carlin.
The two married the following year in 1956 and were together until he died in 1991.
Sternhagen is survived by her children Paul, Amanda, Tony, Sarah, Peter and John.
The iconic actress will be memorialized with a celebration of her career and life which is planned for mid-January which is close to what would have been her 94th birthday.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
