Early life

Sternhagen was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of John M. Sternhagen, a U.S. Tax Court judge, and Gertrude (née Hussey). Sternhagen was educated at the Madeira and Potomac schools in McLean, Virginia. At Vassar College she was elected head of the Drama Club "after silencing a giggling college crowd at a campus dining hall with her interpretation of a scene from Richard II, playing none other than Richard himself". She also studied at the Perry Mansfield School of the Theatre, and New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse.

Stage career

Sternhagen started her career teaching acting, singing and dancing to school children at Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and she herself first performed in 1948 at a Bryn Mawr summer theater in The Glass Menagerie and Angel Street. She went on to work at Washington's Arena Stage from 1953-54, then made her Broadway debut in 1955 as Miss T. Muse in The Skin of Our Teeth. The same year she had her Off-Broadway debut in "Thieves' Carnival" and her TV debut in "The Great Bank Robbery" on "Omnibus" (CBS). By the following year she had won an off-Broadway Obie Award for "Distinguished Performance (Actress)" in The Admirable Bashville (1955-56).

She has won two Tony awards, for "Best Supporting Actress (Dramatic)": in 1974 for the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's The Good Doctor based on Chekhov stories (which also won her a Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play"); and in 1995 for the revival of The Heiress, based on the Henry James novella. She has been nominated for Tony awards five other times, including for her roles in the original Broadway casts of Equus (1975) and On Golden Pond (1979), both later made into Oscar-nominated movies with other actresses, as well as for Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1972), the musical Angel (1978) which was based on Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel, and the 2002 revival of Paul Osborne's Morning's at Seven.

Her best-known Off-Broadway role was her feisty portrayal of the title character in 1988's Pulitzer prize-winning drama Driving Miss Daisy which was originated by Dana Ivey at Playwrights Horizons in New York. Sternhagen took over the role after the show moved to the John Houseman Theatre and played it for more than two years. (Jessica Tandy later won an Academy Award playing Daisy in the 1989 movie.)

Off-Broadway awards include two nominations for the Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Actress in a Play" in 1998, for a revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night at the Irish Repertory Theatre and in 2005, for the World War I drama Echoes of the War.

She also won Distinguished Performance Obie Awards for The Room and A Slight Ache (1964-65). In 1998 she won the Dramatists Guild Fund's Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Award for Excellence in Theater. She starred in the 2005 revival of Edward Albee's Seascape, produced by Lincoln Center Theater at the Booth Theater on Broadway. She had also appeared in the original Broadway production of Edward Albee's All Over in 1971, with Colleen Dewhurst and Jessica Tandy. Her previous Broadway role was in the summer 2005 production of Steel Magnolias with Marsha Mason, Delta Burke, Christine Ebersole, Lily Rabe and Rebecca Gayheart.

Film roles

Sternhagen made her film debut in 1967's New York City high school drama Up the Down Staircase, which starred Sandy Dennis. She has worked periodically in Hollywood since then. She had character roles in the 1971 Paddy Chayefsky's classic The Hospital, in Two People (1973) and in Billy Wilder's Fedora (1978). She appeared in Starting Over (1979) which starred Burt Reynolds; with Sean Connery in Outland (1981); and with Michael J. Fox in Bright Lights, Big City (1988). She played Farrah Fawcett's mother in See You in the Morning (1989), Richard Farnsworth's wife in Misery (1990), and John Lithgow's psychiatrist in Raising Cain (1992). Sternhagen starred in Frank Darabont's suspense/thriller The Mist, released on November 21, 2007. She also appeared in the family film Dolphin Tale (2011).

Television roles

She may be best known to TV audiences as Esther Clavin, mother of John Ratzenberger's Boston postman character Cliff Clavin, on the long-running series Cheers for which she received two Emmy Award nominations. She also played Millicent Carter on ER, Bunny MacDougal, mother of Trey, Charlotte's first husband on Sex and the City (another Emmy Award nomination) and in Law & Order, among other network dramas and sitcoms, and worked for many years in soap operas such as Another World, The Secret Storm and Love of Life. She played two roles on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. She recorded a voiceover for a May 2002 episode of The Simpsons ("The Frying Game").

In summer 2006, she finished her 24th Broadway role, then guest-starred on TV's The Closer, playing Willie Rae Johnson, the mother of Brenda Leigh Johnson, the lead character. Sternhagen appeared on twelve episodes of The Closer, which is no longer in production. She is also recognized as "Mrs. Marsh" from a series of television commercials for Colgate toothpaste that aired in the 1970s.

Voice acting

She read as the title character in the Stephen King novel Dolores Claiborne in a 1995 audiobook recording. She also voiced characters in 13 episodes of "The CBS Radio Mystery Theater", in the 1970s and 80s.

Personal life

Sternhagen met her husband, actor and drama teacher Thomas Carlin (who died in 1991), at The Catholic University of America. They had six children - Paul, Amanda, Tony, Sarah, Peter, and John - several of whom are also professional actors and musicians.

Sternhagen is a longtime resident of New Rochelle, New York, where she lives in the Sutton Manor historic district and is honored on the community's "Walk of Fame".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Up the Down Staircase	Charlotte Wolf
1967	Tiger Makes Out, TheThe Tiger Makes Out	Lady on Bus
1971	Hospital, TheThe Hospital	Mrs. Cushing
1973	Two People	Mrs. McCluskey
1978	Fedora	Miss Balfour
1979	Starting Over	Marva Potter
1981	Outland	Dr. Lazarus	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1983	Independence Day	Carla Taylor
1983	Romantic Comedy	Blanche Dailey
1986	Resting Place	Eudora McCallister
1988	Bright Lights, Big City	Clara
1989	Communion	Dr. Janet Duffy
1989	See You in the Morning	Neenie
1990	Sibling Rivalry	Rose Turner
1990	Misery	Virginia	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1991	Doc Hollywood	Lillian
1991	Walking the Dog	Antique Dealer	Short film
1992	Raising Cain	Dr. Lynn Waldheim	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1998	It All Came True	Amy
2000	Midnight Gospel	Ruth	Short film
2001	Landfall	Emily Thornton
2001	Rising Place, TheThe Rising Place	Ruth Wilder
2002	Highway	Mrs. Murray
2007	Mist, TheThe Mist	Irene Reppler
2009	Julie & Julia	Irma Rombauer
2011	Dolphin Tale	Gloria Forrest
2014	And So It Goes	Claire

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Westinghouse Studio One	Betty	Episode: "The Arena"
1957	Westinghouse Studio One	Mary	Episode: "My Mother and How She Undid Me"
1957	Goodyear Television Playhouse	Elizabeth Barnes	Episode: "The House"
1959	Play of the Week	Eva	Episode: "Thieves Carnival"
1961	Play of the Week		Episode: "In a Garden"
1962	Broadway of Lerner and Loewe, TheThe Broadway of Lerner and Loewe	Theatre-Goer	TV movie
1962	Nurses, TheThe Nurses	Mrs. Harris	Episode: "The Lady Made of Stone"
1964	Defenders, TheThe Defenders	Louise Kiley	Episode: "May Day! May Day!"
1964	Profiles in Courage	Miss Koeller	Episode: "Mary S. McDowell"
1967	NET Playhouse		Episode: "Infancy and Childhood"
1967	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Abigail	Episode: "Soldier in Love"
1967-1968	Love of Life	Toni Prentiss Davis	TV series
1970	The Doctors	Phyllis Corrigan	TV series
1971	NET Playhouse		Segment: "Foul!"
1971	Another World	Jane Overstreet	TV series
1972	Great Performances	Wilma Atkins	Episode: "The Rimers of Eldritch"
1974	Secret Storm, TheThe Secret Storm	Jessie Reddin	TV series
1974	Great Performances	Paulina	Episode: "Enemies"
1977	The Andros Targets	Mrs. Mason	Episode: "In the Event of My Death"
1978	Who'll Save Our Children?	Nellie Henderson	TV movie
1980	Mother and Daughter: The Loving War	Mrs. Lloyd	TV movie
1980	Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, TheThe Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg	Mary Richards	TV short
1983	Prototype	Dorothy Forrester	TV movie
1984	Dining Room, TheThe Dining Room	Various	TV movie
1985	Spencer	Millie Sprague	7 episodes
1986-1993	Cheers	Esther Clavin	7 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
1987	At Mother's Request	Berenice Bradshaw	TV movie
1987	Once Again		TV movie
1990	Follow Your Heart	Cloe Sixbury	TV movie
1991	American Experience	(voice)	Episode: "Coney Island"
1991	Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, TheThe Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Dora	Episode: "Here's a High Dive Into a Shallow Pool"
1991	Golden Years	Gina Williams	7 episodes
1991	Law & Order	Margaret Langdon	Episode: "The Serpent's Tooth"
1992	She Woke Up	Noelle	TV movie
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Effie Gluckman	Episode: "None But the Lonely Heart"
1993	Labor of Love: The Arlette Schweitzer Story	Mary Rafferty	TV movie
1994	Vault of Horror I		TV movie
1994	Road Home, TheThe Road Home	Charlotte Babineaux	6 episodes
1994	Reunion	Tobie Yates	TV movie
1995	Outer Limits, TheThe Outer Limits	Jean Anderson	Episode: "The Choice"
1997	Law & Order	Estelle Muller	Episode: "Legacy"
1997-2003	ER	Millicent Carter	19 episodes
1998	Con, TheThe Con	Hadabelle	TV movie
1998	To Live Again	Constance Holmes	TV movie
2000-2002	Sex and the City	Bunny MacDougal	10 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
2002	Laramie Project, TheThe Laramie Project	Marge Murray	TV movie Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2002	Simpsons, TheThe Simpsons	Mrs. Bellamy (voice)	Episode: "The Frying Game"
2004	Becker	Naomi	Episode: "Subway Story"
2006-2012	Closer, TheThe Closer	Willie Ray Johnson	15 episodes
2012	Parenthood	Blanche Braverman	Episode: "Road Trip"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role
1955	Skin of Our Teeth, TheThe Skin of Our Teeth	Miss T. Muse
1955	Carefree Tree, TheThe Carefree Tree	Widow Yang
1960	Viva Madison Avenue!	Dee Jones
1962	Great Day in the Morning	Alice McAnany
1965-1966	Right Honourable Gentleman, TheThe Right Honourable Gentleman	Mrs. Ashton Dilke
1967	Doll's House, AA Doll's House	Nora
1967-1969	You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running	Harriet / Edith / Muriel (standby)
1968-1969	Cocktail Party, TheThe Cocktail Party	Lavinia Chamberlayne
1969	Cock-A-Doodle Dandy	Loreleen
1970	Blood Red Roses	Various (standby)
1971	Playboy of the Western World, TheThe Playboy of the Western World	Widow Quin
1971	All Over	The Daughter, The Mistress (standby)
1971	Mary Stuart	Mary Stuart, Queen Elizabeth (understudy)
1972	Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, TheThe Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window	Mavis Parodus Bryson
1972	Enemies	Paulina
1973-1974	Good Doctor, TheThe Good Doctor	Performer
1974-1977	Equus	Dora Strang
1978	Angel	Eliza Gant
1979-1980	On Golden Pond	Ethel Thayer
1981	Father, TheThe Father	Laura
1981-1982	Grown Ups	Helen
1983-1984	You Can't Take It with You
1985	Home Front	Maurine
1995	Heiress, TheThe Heiress	Lavinia Penniman
1999	Exact Center of the Universe, TheThe Exact Center of the Universe
2002	Morning's at Seven	Ida Bolton
2005	Steel Magnolias	Clairee
2005-2006	Seascape	Nancy
2013	The Madrid	Rose

[ Source: Wikipedia ]