Background
A stereotypical "intelligent, ice queen" Lilith Sternin was supposed to last for only one episode of the fourth season, "Second Time Around" (1986). However, her role extended for some time since the fifth season. Over the years, like Diane Chambers, an educated Lilith is often mocked yet "manages to put people in their place."
Cheers and Frasier writers Ken Levine and David Isaacs found chemistry of Frasier and Lilith "special" enough to compare them with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy mixed with "Prozac" and to comfortably write stories about. Nevertheless, Neuwirth viewed this role as detrimental to her acting talents and career, which motivated her into quitting Cheers in favor of mostly Broadway. However, she still recurringly appeared as Lilith in the spin-off Frasier. This role earned Neuwirth two Emmy Awards as an Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1990 and 1991
I find Lilith very innocent, very sweet, very naïve. She's socially inept. She has no idea how to react with other people. She's shy and uncomfortable with people. She's a scientist, she's very analytical, she's very honest. And she loves her husband very, very much. And she loves her child Frederick, too. —Bebe Neuwirth, The Associated Press, May 1992Read more about this topic: Lilith Sternin
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