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SEX and the City guest star Frances Sternhagen has died at the age of 93.
The two-time Tony Award-winning actress was also known for her roles in Cheers, On Golden Pond, and The Heiress.
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Sternhagen died peacefully of natural causes on Monday, according to her family.
In a family statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, they wrote: "We continue to be inspired by her love and life."
Though a star on the stage, Sternhagen is best known for playing a pair of mothers on television.
Bunny MacDougal on HBO’s Sex and the City and Esther Clavin on NBC’s Cheers.
Performances for which she received Emmy nominations.
“I must say it’s fun to play these snobby older ladies," Sternhagen revealed during a 2002 interview with the Los Angeles Times.
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She continued: "It’s always more fun to be obnoxious.
“I have known women like that, and I can imitate them, I guess.”
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Sternberger debuted as Esther Clavin on the fifth season of Cheers as the mother of the postman Cliff, played by John Ratzenberger.
The character, like her son, had a knack for spouting obscure trivia facts.
In Sex and the City, she played the role of Bunny the mother of Kyle MacLachlan's character Trey.
Her motherly, over-protectiveness put her at odds with Trey's new bride, Charlotte played by series star Kristin Davis.
Sternhagen garnered her first Tony in 1974 for her work in the original production of Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor.
Over twenty years later she won again in 1995 for playing the widowed Aunt Lavinia opposite stage actress Cherry Jones in a revival of The Heiress.
She received a Tony nomination for originating the role of Ethel Thayer in the 1979 Broadway production of On Golden Pond.
Sternhagen was again nominated for a Tony in 1996 for portraying Dora Strang, the mother of an emotionally disturbed son, in Equus.
The actress collected several more nominations for The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window in 1972, Angel in 1978, and Morning’s at Seven in 2002.
Survivors include her six children; Paul, Amanda, Tony, Sarah, Peter, and John.
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In 2001, Sternhagen confessed that it was through “working on characters in plays that I’ve learned about myself, about how people operate.”
“Do what you love, whatever that is,” she stated before adding, “And if you’re able to make a living at what you love to do, you’re terribly lucky.”
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