R.I.P. Lisa Banes, Broadway star and Gone Girl actor

The Broadway veteran was known for her roles in Gone Girl, A Cure For Wellness, and Pumpkin

By Gabrielle Sanchez  |  June 15, 2021 | 2:31pm
Film News Banes
R.I.P. Lisa Banes, Broadway star and Gone Girl actor
Lisa Banes Photo: Larry Busacca

Broadway veteran and longtime television and film actress Lisa Banes has died at 65 on Monday after an apparent hit-and-run in the Upper West Side.

Her manager David Williams tells NBC News, “We are heartsick over Lisa’s tragic and senseless passing. She was a woman of great spirit, kindness and generosity and dedicated to her work, whether on stage or in front of a camera and even more so to her wife, family and friends. We were blessed to have had her in our lives.”

Banes was on her way to meet her wife, Kathryn Kranhold, for a friend’s dinner party when someone on a red and black motorcycle or scooter struck her in a crosswalk at West 64th and Amsterdam Ave. She was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside hospital with critical head trauma over a week ago and succumbed to her injuries sometime on Monday, June 14.

No suspects have been identified by the police. “There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing,” the NYPD DCPI tells PEOPLE.

Primarily a resident of LA, Banes was in New York City for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic for a virtual performance of Eleanor Burgess’ The Niceties, presented by Manhattan Theatre Club. Banes performed in the play’s staged production from 2018 to 2019.

“She loves, loves, loves New York,” Banes’ friend Cynthia Crossen tells The Post. “She’s an L.A. girl but she spent so many happy years here.”

Banes was known for her roles in Gone Girl, A Cure For Wellness, and Cocktail with Tom Cruise. She also played Christina Ricci’s mother in the dark comedy Pumpkin (2002). The Julliard alum performed in Broadway’s Rumors with Christine Baranski, High Society, and in Accent On Youth as Miss Darling.

The actor received a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in 1984 for Wendy Wasserstein’s Isn’t it Romantic? Banes won a Theatre World Award for her performance as Alison Porter in the 1981 Off-Broadway production of Look Back in Anger.

 
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