She remained active in her last two years with a regular voice role on "As Told by Ginger", a voice bit in the animated feature film "Shrek", and a guest appearance on the sitcom "Becker." She received a Tony Award nomination and a Theatre World Award for her role as Jeannette Burmeister in the musical version of "The Full Monty". In her final episode of "As Told by Ginger", Season 2's "No Hope for Courtney", Freeman's character retires from her teaching job although Carl and Hoodsey try convincing her to return to work. The script originally was written to have Mrs. Gordon return to Lucky Elementary School but Freeman died before the episode was finished. The script was then re-written, and Mrs. Gordon died as well. The episode was dedicated in Freeman's memory. The dedication came at the end of the episode after the announcement that Elaine Gordon had died and Carl was crying. The screen faded to black and a title card said "In Memory of Kathleen Freeman".