Frances Sternhagen

Birth Name:

Frances Hussey Sternhagen

Birth Place:

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Profession

Actress, Soundtrack

Ask Matt: The Following, Elementary, Big Bang, Bones, Last Resort, Happy Endings and More

Send questions and comments to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow me on Twitter! Question: I rely on your advice for new shows, so is The Following worth watching? I love Kevin Bacon, but I have given up on The Mentalist because of the whole Red John thing. If they had laid that to rest when it appeared that they did, I would still be watching. It seems like this new show will be very similar, but I haven't heard enough to make a decision. What do you think? — Tom

Mon, Jan 14, 2013

Ask Matt: The Following, Elementary, Big Bang, Bones, Last Resort, Happy Endings and More

Review: Exit The Closer, Enter Major Crimes

One of the things I'll miss most about Brenda Leigh Johnson is her sweet tooth: that secret compulsion and most shameful addiction indulged by the Deputy Chief of the LAPD's Major Crimes Division whenever she reaches for that overstuffed top desk drawer, a Pavlovian response to the nerve-wracking stress of her high-profile job. In a more typical L.A. crime story, the hard-driving boss reveals a weakness for booze. With Brenda, it's the soothing waft of chocolate when she peels back the foil from a Ding Dong, savoring the guilty pleasure.

Mon, Aug 13, 2012

Review: Exit The Closer, Enter Major Crimes

Matt's TV Week in Review: New Year's Edition

Some thoughts on a few of the shows that got 2012 off to a (mostly) promising start. Which means I've already forgotten that ABC's grotesquely unfunny Work It exists — and if you thought that was bad, wait until you see (or better yet, don't) next week's comedy disasters: CBS' offensively stereotypical Rob and NBC's rancid hangover of a dud Are You There, Chelsea? But for now, let's accentuate the (mostly) positive.

Fri, Jan 6, 2012

Matt's TV Week in Review: New Year's Edition

Christmas Gets Closer

The Yuletide episodes of The Closer are true standouts every season, and this one's got it all: holiday hilarity, family dysfunction and, of course, murder. The two-parter opens tonight at 9/8c on TNT with a death on Christmas Eve in a case that threatens to dash everybody's holiday plans. "Brenda [Kyra Sedgwick] and Raydor [Mary McDonnell] always fight to gain control of cases, but they're fighting to give this one away," says exec producer James Duff. Things get even screwier after Brenda's parents (Frances Sternhagen and Barry Corbin) show up...

Mon, Dec 20, 2010

The Closer Sneak Peek: Brenda's Back for the Holidays!

Kyra Sedgwick lets out a big "Ha!" when asked how Brenda Leigh Johnson, the Georgia peach—turned—Los Angeles police babe she plays on The Closer, has changed after six seasons on TNT. "That's the wonderful and fun thing about Brenda," she says. "The woman really hasn't evolved." On one level, Sedgwick is right. The Closer returns tonight for five episodes ending with ...

Mon, Dec 6, 2010