Tony-Winning Actress Who Had Important ‘Gilmore Girls’ Role Dead at 84: RIP to Elizabeth Franz

Elizabeth Franz has died. The Tony-Award-winning actress was 84.

Lauded as a veteran of the stage, she was known for her roles in productions including Death of a Salesman, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound and Morning’s at Seven.

Per Broadway World, she died on Nov. 4 at her home in Connecticut. Her husband, Christopher Pelham, said her cause of death was cancer and a severe reaction to her treatment.

Franz had previously been Tony-nominated for originating the role of Kate Jerome in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1983. She would return to the part several years later in Broadway Bound.

She received a third nomination for the 2002 Broadway revival of Paul Osborn’s Morning’s at Seven. She won a Tony for her role as Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman.

Her work on the latter didn’t end with the stage as she would reprise her performance as Linda Loman in the 2000 televised adaptation of Death of a Salesman. She earned an Emmy for that performance.

Her 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 alongside Tim Allen in 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.

During her one-episode feature in Gilmore Girls, she played a pivotal role. Starring as Mia Bass, she plays a woman who owns the inn that Lorelai (Lauren Graham) worked at. Mia takes her in and serves as a maternal figure when she just had Rory (Alexis Bledel). While she’s not on screen much, her presence in the show’s lore is vital. The character resurfaces later in the series, but it was recast with Kathy Baker in the role.