Stage & Screen Actress Elizabeth Norment Dies at 61

Stage and screen actress Elizabeth Norment, who most recently appeared in Netflix's HOUSE OF CARDS, has died at the age of 61, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Owner of Leading Artists Talent Agency, Diane Bush, which represented Norment, confirmed the news this morning. Norment died on Oct. 13 at at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

An actress with a long-established history in television, film and theatre, Norment's most substantial onscreen career role came as secretary Nancy Kaufberger in David Fincher's remake of the classic British drama series "House of Cards" (Netflix 2013).

While she made guest appearances in many other high-profile television shows, including "Doogie Howser, MD" (ABC 1989-1993) , "ER" (NBC 1994-2009), "Party of Five" (Fox 1994-2000) and "Law & Order" (NBC 1990-2010), her resume was also notable for small parts in the Gene Wilder-starring romantic comedy "The Woman in Red" (1984) and the Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow slapstick comedy "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" (1997).

Born in Washington and partly raised in Japan and Germany while her father was in the CIA, Norment began acting professionally in 1980 following her graduation from Yale University, when she was invited to join Robert Brustein's American Repertory Theatre (ART). Developing a career in theatre before she transferred to the screen, many of Norment's early roles were with companies such as Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and the Colony Theater in Los Angeles. She credited much of her success to her early work in Shakespeare, once citing her roles in the comedies "As You Like It" and "Much Ado About Nothing" as her breakthroughs: "A lot of people in the business either saw them or heard about them. I've been working steadily ever since.