Liz immersed herself in music all her life. As a child growing up on Long Island, she sang and performed in school and in church, but she aspired to be a concert pianist. By the time she got to Cornell University, though, she had discovered the joy of singing jazz. She performed throughout college and eventually recorded an album with her soon-to-be husband and fellow Cornelian and bassist, Steve Fillo. Liz and Steve performed together for decades.
Through the 60’s they lived at various times in Monterey, CA, New Bedford, NY, London, England, Westport, CT, and Cambridge, MA, where Steve enrolled in the MBA program at the Harvard Business School. Liz found work in the office of the Dean of Admissions, while performing in musicals with the undergraduates. She also created a repertoire of one-woman shows there. In 1971, a change in Steve’s career brought them to Princeton and Liz began performing at the McCarter Theater. She also joined the highly successful Inn Cabaret, a staple of Princeton entertainment for many years. With her friend, Roo Brown, Liz started a duo cabaret act. Together they played many clubs, including some in New York.
In the 80’s, she appeared in several national commercials and on various soap operas. Then in the early 90s Liz became a trustee of McCarter, eventually serving for several years as president of the board. Liz and Steve divorced in 1995, which opened the door in 1998 to re-connecting with Christopher Coucill, with whom she had performed 18 years earlier. They married in 2001, filling their lives with love and music and theatre. Liz enjoyed nothing more than singing for Chris and their friends. She was also a superb cook as well as an avid gardener who planted many beautiful scapes, including the lush fairyland she and Chris created out of 3 1/2 acres on a rocky, wooded slope of Princeton Ridge. (Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives – https://sova.si.edu/details/AAG.GCA?s=0&n=10&t=C&q=#ref20204).
Liz is survived by Steve Fillo; her husband, Chris Coucill; her sons, Chris and Andy; and her four beloved grandchildren, Benny, Graham, Henry and Eliza. Donations in Liz’s name will be gratefully accepted by Young Audiences of New Jersey and The Nature Conservancy.
Arrangements are under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.