For more than sixty years, Elizabeth Franz stepped into other people’s lives and, somehow, helped audiences survive their own. From Off-Broadway beginnings to a Tony-winning command of the stage, she carried an emotional honesty that made even the harshest characters feel human. As Sister Mary Ignatius, as Linda Loman, she didn’t just play them; she seemed to bleed with them, illuminating the fragile places people try to hide.

Her artistry stretched far beyond theater walls, into living rooms through Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, Homeland, and more, where new generations met her without knowing the miles she had already walked. Colleagues remember her as fearless and meticulous, but also as someone who believed acting could heal what life had broken. She leaves behind her husband, her brother, and a body of work that still breathes, reminding anyone watching that courage can be quiet, and grace can look like simply telling the truth.