Joy Franz

Joy Franz, born Maybelle Franz on June 13, 1941, in Modesto, California, is an American actress and singer whose Broadway career spans from 1965 to 2018. The name "Joy" originated as a nickname given to her by friends after a restaurateur described her as "a joy to have around," and she eventually adopted it as her professional name. Franz graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she majored in music. Before relocating to New York, she performed at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City for three summers.

Franz made an early New York appearance in the 1965 New York City Center production of Guys and Dolls, where she performed in the ensemble and understudied the female lead role of Sarah Brown. She went on to appear in the Broadway productions of Pippin and A Little Night Music, and took part in national tours of Company, The Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls, and Damn Yankees. In 1971, she was among the Street Singers in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass, performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on September 8 of that year. The following year, she played Susan in the original 1972 West End production of Stephen Sondheim's Company.

Franz is perhaps best recognized for her work in Sondheim's Into the Woods, in which she originated the role of Cinderella's Stepmother in the 1987 Broadway production while also understudying the role of the Witch. She reprised Cinderella's Stepmother during the 1988–90 US Tour and again in the 2002 Broadway revival, where she additionally played Little Red's Granny and understudied the role of Jack's Mother. Among her other Broadway credits are Musical Chairs, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert for Broadway Barks Because Broadway Cares. Franz also portrayed the Dowager Empress in the US National Tour of Anastasia and played the role of the Mother in the My Damn Channel television series Horrible People.