Frances Sternhagen

Frances Hussey Sternhagen (born January 13, 1930) is an American actress. Sternhagen has appeared On- and Off-Broadway, in movies, and on TV since the 1950s. She is known for her role as Richard Farnsworth's wife in "Misery" (1990).
She may be also 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.