Linda Lavin

Linda Lavin (; October 15, 1937 – December 29, 2024) was an American actress and singer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she received several awards including three Drama Desk Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Obie Awards, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010.

After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s. She made her television debut in '' Rhoda'' and had a recurring role in ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1976). She gained fame for playing the title role of a waitress at a roadside diner in the CBS sitcom ''Alice'' (1976–1985), a role for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and won two consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. She later starred in NBC's sitcom '' Sean Saves the World'' and the CBS sitcom ''9JKL'' and took recurring roles in the legal drama ''The Good Wife'' (2014–2015) and the sitcom '' B Positive'' (2020–2022).

On stage, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play playing a strong-willed mother in the Neil Simon play '' Broadway Bound'' (1987). She was Tony-nominated for her roles in '' Last of the Red Hot Lovers'' (1970), '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1998), '' The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' (2001), '' Collected Stories'' (2010), and '' The Lyons'' (2012). She is also known for acting in '' It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman'' (1966), '' On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'' (1967), ''Gypsy'' (1990), '' The Sisters Rosensweig'' (1993), and '' Follies'' (2011). She made her film debut in ''The Muppets Take Manhattan'' (1984), and later had roles in '' I Want to Go Home'' (1989), '' See You in the Morning'' (1989) and '' Being the Ricardos'' (2021).

Early life, family and education

Lavin was born in Portland, Maine, the younger daughter of David Joseph Lavin, a businessman, and Lucille Dorothy (''née'' Potter), an opera singer. The Lavin family were active members of the local Jewish community. Both sets of grandparents emigrated from Russia. Her family was musically talented, and Lavin was on stage from the age of five.

She attended Waynflete School and Deering High School before enrolling in the College of William & Mary.

She studied acting at HB Studio in New York City.

Career

Early years

In the summer of 1958, she played one of the leads in '' The Common Glory'', an outdoor drama written by Paul Green and staged at an amphitheater on campus. Upon her graduation from college, she had already received her Actors' Equity Association card. She was a member of the Compass Players in the late 1950s.

Theater

In 1960 Lavin appeared at the East 74th Street Theater in George Gershwin's '' Oh, Kay!'', with Penny Fuller and Marti Stevens.

Lavin began her career with Broadway appearances in the musical '' A Family Affair'' (1962) and plays such as ''The Riot Act'' (1963)"Linda Lavin Broadway credits"
''Internet Broadway Database''. Accessed February 16, 2012. and Carl Reiner's ''Something Different'' (1967). In his ''New York Times'' review of John Guare's two one-act plays, ''Cop-Out'' (1969), Clive Barnes wrote: "Miss Lavin...carries versatility almost to the point of paranoia, and camps up a storm."

Lavin also appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions, including the revue ''Wet Paint'' (1965), the musical '' The Mad Show'' (1966) (in which she introduced the cabaret standard " The Boy From...", written by Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers), and ''Little Murders'' (1969). Lavin won the Theatre World Award for ''Wet Paint'' and a Drama Desk Award for ''Little Murders''. In 1975, she appeared in the Shakespeare in the Park production of ''The Comedy of Errors'' at the Delacorte Theater.

She "arrived at showbiz stardom with a featured role" in the musical '' It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'' (1966). She received her first Tony Award nomination in 1970, for her role in the Neil Simon play '' Last of the Red Hot Lovers'' (1969). Clive Barnes, in his review for ''The New York Times'', wrote: "Linda Lavin, eyebrows, icflaunting like telegraphed messages, mouth twitching and pouting, voice as dry as thunder and with a cough like electric static, is beautiful as Elaine, the sex cat feeling coolly kittenish and looking for a safe tin roof." Lavin's last Broadway credit before she moved to Hollywood was in '' Paul Sills' Story Theatre'' in 1971."Linda Lavin Stage Performances"
Broadwayworld.com. accessed February 16, 2012.

In 1984, Lavin played the character of "The Mother" in Luigi Pirandello's '' Six Characters in Search of an Author'' in a production directed by Robert Brustein at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

After more than a decade away, Lavin returned to the Broadway stage in 1987, winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and her second Drama Desk Award for her role as Kate in Simon's play '' Broadway Bound''. In his review in ''The New York Times'', Frank Rich wrote: "One only wishes that Ms. Lavin, whose touching performance is of the same high integrity as the writing, could stay in the role forever." Theatre critic Charles McNulty wrote of her performance that it "is widely considered one of the most memorable in contemporary Broadway history, winning not just awards but praise approaching the level of myth. The theater critic Gordon Rogoff, extolling 'the power available only to an actor at the height of her own command of detail,' went so far as to describe Lavin's portrayal as 'one of those textbook lessons in great acting...' "

She then starred on Broadway in ''Gypsy'' as Mama Rose Hovick, replacing Tyne Daly in July 1990. June Havoc saw Lavin's performance in ''Gypsy'' and sent Lavin a photo of Havoc's mother, the real Rose Hovick, with a note of appreciation for Lavin's portrayal of the character.

Her subsequent Broadway roles included '' The Sisters Rosensweig'', as a replacement Gorgeous Teitelbaum starting in September 1993 and Mrs. Van Daan in '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1997–1998), opposite Natalie Portman, for which she garnered a Tony nomination as Featured Actress in a Play. In 1995 she appeared in the Off-Broadway ''Death-Defying Acts'', which consists of three one-act plays; Lavin performed in the Elaine May (''Hotline'') and Woody Allen plays (''Central Park West''). She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Actress – Play) and won an Obie Award (Performance) and the Lucille Lortel Award. She also directed theater during this period.

She played Marjorie in '' The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' (2000–2001), co-starring Tony Roberts and Michele Lee, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award, Leading Actress in a Play, and Drama Desk Award, and "nanny" for Helen (young Carol Burnett, played by Sara Niemietz and Donna Lynne Champlin) in '' Hollywood Arms'' in Chicago and on Broadway in 2002.

In 2010, Lavin appeared as Ruth Steiner in a Broadway revival of the play '' Collected Stories'' opposite Sarah Paulson as her student, reprising her role for a PBS production of the play, and received a fifth Tony nomination for the role. She appeared in the new play by Jon Robin Baitz, '' Other Desert Cities'', Off-Broadway at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater (now the Vivian Beaumont Theater) at Lincoln Center, beginning in previews in December 2010, closing February 27, 2011. Lavin was featured in the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC) production of the musical '' Follies'', from May 2011 to June 2011, as Hattie Walker.Gans, Andrew (May 7, 2011
"Hats Off, Here They Come, Those Beautiful Girls": Starry 'Follies' Begins Kennedy Center Run May 7"
. ''Playbill''.

She appeared in the premiere of the Nicky Silver play '' The Lyons'' at the Off-Broadway Vineyard Theatre, beginning in September 2011, through November 11. Ben Brantley, ''The New York Times'' reviewer, commented: "Watching Ms. Lavin, I found myself thinking of Nora from Ibsen's '' Doll's House'' – well, a pursed-lipped, lemony-sour, older Nora in pseudo-Chanel, one who's never at a loss for what to say and when to say it. Rita may be a little behind schedule in discovering herself, but no one can fault the hair-trigger timing of the actress playing her or the surprising dimensions she finds within one-liners." She reprised her role in the Broadway production, which opened at the Cort Theatre on April 23, 2012, and closed on July 1, 2012.

Lavin appeared in the Nicky Silver play ''Too Much Sun'', which opened Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre on May 18, 2014. Ben Brantley, in his review for ''The New York Times'' wrote: "And it's an unconditional treat to witness an actress like Ms. Lavin tuned so precisely into the writer's wavelength that script and performance become a marriage of true minds."

Lavin appeared in 2015/16 on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in a Manhattan Theatre Club production of Richard Greenberg's ''Our Mother's Brief Affair''.

In January 2017, Lavin appeared in New York City Opera's production of Leonard Bernstein's ''Candide'' at the Rose Theatre at Lincoln Center in the role of The Old Lady.

In 2020, Lavin performed "The Boy From..." as part of '' Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration''. Writing in ''The New York Times'', critic Ben Brantley called her performance of the song "deliciously undersold," and noted that she had introduced it 54 years earlier.

Cabaret and recording

She appeared on the 1966 cast recordings of '' The Mad Show'' performing Stephen Sondheim's " The Boy From...". From '' It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'', one of her numbers, " You've Got Possibilities", was the album's best-received song and was called "The one memorable song...flirty, syncopated" by the ''Dallas Observer''.

Lavin appeared in cabaret and concert performances. In 2005 she appeared at the Empire Plush Room in San Francisco, accompanied by Billy Stritch and her husband, Steve Bakunas. The ''Talkin' Broadway'' reviewer summed up her performance: "Linda Lavin is funny, warm and full of personality." In April 2006 she performed at Birdland (New York) "with her critically acclaimed cabaret act The Song Remembers When", with Billy Stritch. She performed with the Wilmington Symphony (Wilmington, North Carolina) in March 2012.

Her recording ''Possibilities'' was released by Ghostlight Records in 2012. Steven Suskin wrote: "There is still that sweet, friendly sound of long ago (and 'sweet' and 'friendly' are not words you'd use to describe Lavin-the-actress)."

Television

In 1967, Lavin made an appearance as Gloria Thorpe in a television version of the baseball musical ''Damn Yankees'' with Phil Silvers. In 1969, Lavin married actor Ron Leibman, and by 1973, the couple had moved to Hollywood, California. After various guest appearances on episodic television series such as '' The Nurses'', '' Rhoda'', ''Harry O'', and '' Kaz'', Lavin landed a recurring role as Detective Janice Wentworth on ''Barney Miller'' during the first and second seasons (1975–1976).

She left ''Barney Miller'' to star in the lead role in ''Alice'', which was a sitcom success that ran from 1976 to 1985 on the CBS network. The series was based on the Martin Scorsese–directed Ellen Burstyn film '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore''. Lavin portrayed Alice Hyatt, a waitress and aspiring singer, the character that Burstyn had played. Lavin performed the series' theme song, "There's a New Girl in Town," which was written by David Shire and Alan and Marilyn Bergman and was updated for each of the first six seasons. During the series' nine-season run, Lavin won two Golden Globe Awards and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and gained experience directing, especially during the later seasons. Lavin also played a dual role in ''Alice'', as Debbie Walden, the wizened and former landlady of the character Vera Louise Gorman-Novak."Linda Lavin Movies, see 'Alice'"
. ''Blockbuster''. Accessed June 20, 2011. Lavin also made numerous television appearances outside of ''Alice'', including hosting her own holiday special for CBS, ''Linda in Wonderland'' (1980). She acted in two sitcoms, '' Room for Two'' (1992–93) and 1998's '' Conrad Bloom''. In ''Room for Two'', she played a mother who moved in with her daughter, played by Patricia Heaton, who has a show on a local television station. The daughter gives Lavin's character her own segment, called "Just a Thought", at the end of her program.

She made numerous television guest appearances, including roles on ''The Muppet Show'' (1979), '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', '' The O.C.'', ''Touched by an Angel'' (1999), and HBO's ''The Sopranos'' (2002).

She also appeared in many other telefilms between 1967 and 1998, including: ''Sadbird'', '' The Morning After'', ''Jerry'', ''Like Mom, Like Me'', ''The $5.20 an Hour Dream'', ''Another Woman's Child'', ''Maricela'', ''Lena: My 100 Children'', ''Whitewash'', ''A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story'', ''Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden'', ''For the Future: The Irvine Fertility Scandal'', ''The Ring'', and ''Best Friends for Life''. Lavin produced and starred in ''A Matter of Life and Death'', the 1981 telefilm based on the work of nurse thanatologist Joy Ufema. She directed the 1990 telefilm '' Flour Babies''.

Lavin provided the voice of the Mother Vulture in the animated series '' Courage the Cowardly Dog'' for the episode " Watch The Birdies".

After working in theater for many years, Lavin was cast in the NBC television sitcom '' Sean Saves the World'' (2013–14) playing Sean Hayes' pushy, meddling mother Lorna. The ''Los Angeles Times'' interviewer noted: "A highlight of the show is the wonderful chemistry between Lavin and Hayes, who exchange repartee and quips with breezy ease. And the cast seems smitten with her."

In 2015, she guest starred as a judge approached to stop an execution in the episode of ''Bones'' titled "The Verdict in the Victims".

Lavin played Judy Roberts in the CBS sitcom ''9JKL'' (2017–18) alongside Mark Feuerstein and Elliott Gould. In 2019, Lavin joined the cast of the Netflix comedy/horror '' Santa Clarita Diet'', starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. In 2020, Lavin performed the song " The Boy From..." from '' The Mad Show'' in '' Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration.'' Lavin appeared in the CBS comedy '' B Positive'', which aired from 2020 to 2022, in a recurring role as Norma, one of the senior citizens at a local retirement home.

In June 2024, it was announced that Max Mutchnick and David Kohan had created a ''The Golden Girls''-like TV series set in Palm Springs, with Matt Bomer and Nathan Lane as Bunny Schneiderman. Lavin played Lane's mother, Sybil Schneiderman. The series, ''Mid-Century Modern'' streams on Hulu. At the time of her death, seven of ten episodes of the series had been filmed, and Lavin's character was subsequently written out of the series in the episode "Here's To You Mrs. Schneiderman."

Directing and teaching

While residing in Wilmington, North Carolina, Lavin worked as a stage director. One of her directorial credits was a 1998 production of William Shakespeare's ''As You Like It'', updated to a Brazilian jazz style. In both Wilmington and New York City, she taught master classes in acting and singing.

Film

Lavin made her feature film debut in ''The Muppets Take Manhattan'' (1984). Her other feature film appearances include '' See You in the Morning'', starring Jeff Bridges; Alain Resnais's '' I Want to Go Home'', opposite Gérard Depardieu (both 1989); and ''The Back-up Plan'' (2010)."Linda Lavin Biography"
''PBS Presents Hollywood: Collected Stories''. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Personal life

Lavin was married three times. Her first marriage to actor Ron Leibman ended in divorce in 1981. Her second marriage, to actor Kip Niven, whom she met on the set of ''Alice'', ended in a bitter divorce in 1992. While Lavin had no biological children, she was a stepmother during her second and third marriages. She married Steve Bakunas in 2005. The couple resided in Wilmington, North Carolina, where they were committed community members who were working together to rehabilitate impoverished neighborhoods including renovating many homes, donating a park to the city and creating a community theater, the Red Barn Studio. In 1997, Lavin founded The Linda Lavin Arts Foundation in Wilmington, "to promote and foster the advancement of the performing and visual arts, with special emphasis on arts in education. Her foundation has created a theater program called Girl Friends, whose purpose is to raise the self-esteem of at-risk teenage girls of the inner city."

In September 2012, Lavin announced that she intended to sell her home in Wilmington and return to New York City. Lavin and Bakunas thereafter resided in New York City until her death. She continued to work in California as well.

Lavin continued performing after being diagnosed with lung cancer. She died from cardiopulmonary arrest due to complications of the disease in Los Angeles on December 29, 2024, aged 87.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

Putt, Barry M. Jr. (2019). ''Alice: Life Behind the Counter in Mel's Greasy Spoon (A Guide to the Feature Film, the TV Series, and More)''. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media. .

External links

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Linda Lavin biography, as "Alice" cast member
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, Linda
1937 births
2024 deaths
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Actors from Wilmington, North Carolina
Actresses from Maine
Actresses from Portland, Maine
American film actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American stage actresses
American television actresses
American women singers
Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
College of William & Mary alumni
Deaths from lung cancer in California
Drama Desk Award winners
Jewish American actresses
Jewish women singers
Jews from Maine
Musicians from Portland, Maine
Obie Award recipients
Tony Award winners
Waynflete School alumni