Franne Lee

Frances Elaine Newman (December 30, 1941 – August 27, 2023), known professionally as Franne Lee, was an American costume and production designer for stage, television, and film. She won multiple Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards.

Lee and her partner, set designer Eugene Lee, had a daughter, Stacy. Franne and Eugene did some of their most high-profile work in the 1970s, during their personal relationship. The two collaborated with him on productions including an acclaimed Candide, directed by Harold Prince at the Chelsea Theater Center in Brooklyn in 1973. It moved to Broadway the next year and ran there for 740 performances. The Lees later worked together and both won Tony Awards, for Scenic Design and Costume Design, respectively, for the 1979 musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, and also produced by Prince. On television, Franne was the original Saturday Night Live costume designer, who designed for such characters as the Coneheads, the Killer Bees, and Roseanne Roseannadanna.

Franne Lee died in Atlantis, Florida on August 27, 2023, at the age of 81. Eugene Lee died earlier that same year.