Frances Sternhagen, Sex And The City actress dies at 93

Sex And The City star Frances Sternhagen died at the age of 93 of natural causes in New Rochelle, New York.

“We continue to be inspired by her love and life,” her family said in a statement on Wednesday.

Sternhagen's most well-known performance was in Sex and the City from 2000 to 2002, where she played Charlotte York's obnoxious mother-in-law Bunny MacDougal.

In addition to portraying Kristin Davis's mother on the immensely successful show, she was also known for playing the domineering mother of John Ratzenberger's Boston postman character Cliff Clavin on the sitcom Cheers.

For both parts, the gifted actor was nominated for an Emmy.

In addition, the legendary actor won two Tony Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Dramatic): one in 1995 for the revival of The Heiress and one in 1974 for the Broadway premiere of Neil Simon's The Good Doctor.

She was included in 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 has also been nominated five more times for Broadway awards that honour excellence.

She started performing on stage on the East Coast in 1951, and her career lasted for 63 years, ending in 2014.

In TNT's The Closer, which aired from 2005 to 2012, she most recently portrayed the mother of LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by Kyra Sedgewick.

Her children Paul, Amanda, Tony, Sarah, Peter, and John are left behind.

An event honouring the legendary actress's life and career is scheduled for mid-January, which is close to the day she would have turned 94.