| Linda Lavin | |
|---|---|
 Linda Lavin in 2017 | |
| Personal Information | |
| Gender: | Female |
| Born: | October 15, 1937 |
| Birthplace: | Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actress, singer |
| Years active: | 1967–present |
| Spouse(s): | Ron Leibman, 1969-1980 (divorced) Kip Niven, 1982-1992 (divorced) Steve Bakunas, 2005-present |
| Hometown | New York City, U.S. (present residence) |
| Character/Series involvement | |
| Series: | Alice (TV series) |
| Episodes appeared in: | all 202 in series |
| Character played: | Alice Hyatt |
Linda Lavin (born October 15, 1937) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing the the part of Alice Hyatt, the title character in the CBS-TV sitcom series Alice and for her stage performances, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway.
Early life[]
Born in Portland, Maine, Linda is the daughter of David Joseph Lavin, a businessman; and Lucille (née Potter), an opera singer.[1] The Lavin family were active members of the local area Jewish community.[2] Both sets of grandparents, Simon and Jessie Lavin and Harry and Esther Potter, emigrated from Russia.[3] Her family was musically talented, and Lavin has been onstage since the age of five.
Career[]
Stage[]
After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s. She began acting on Broadway in the 1960s, earning notice in "It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman" in 1966 and receiving her first Tony Award nomination in Last of the Red Hot Lovers in 1970. She moved to Hollywood in 1973 and began to work in television, making recurring appearances on the sitcom Barney Miller before getting the title role in hit comedy Alice, which ran from 1976 to 1985. She appeared in many telefilms and later in other TV work. She has also had roles in several feature films.
In 1987, she returned to Broadway, starring in Broadway Bound (winning a Tony Award), Gypsy (1990), The Sisters Rosensweig (1993), The Diary of Anne Frank (1997–1998) and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2000–2001), among others.
TV/Films[]
In 1967, Linda made an appearance as Gloria Thorpe in a television version of the musical Damn Yankees with Phil Silvers.[4] In 1969, Lavin married actor Ron Liebman,[5] (they divorced in 1980) and by 1973, the couple had arrived in Hollywood, California.
After various guest appearances on episodic television series such as The Nurses, Rhoda, Harry O and the CBS-TV series Kaz[1] , Linda landed a recurring role as Detective Janice Wentworth on Barney Miller during the first and second seasons (1975–1976).[6]
She left Barney Miller to star in the lead role in Alice. The show was a popular hit for CBS and ran from 1976 to 1985.[1] The series was based on the Martin Scorsese-directed Ellen Burstyn film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.[7] Lavin portrayed Alice Hyatt, a waitress and 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 earned two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination,[8] 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.
In 2010, she appeared as Ruth Steiner in Collected Stories, garnering her fifth Tony nomination. She starred in NBC-TV]]'s short-lived sitcom, Sean Saves the World as Lorna and the CBS-TV sitcom series 9JKL.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Linda Lavin Biography". FilmReference.com, accessed October 15, 2010
- ↑ "Jewish Woman's Archive – Linda Lavin". JWA.org, accessed July 11, 2014.
- ↑ 1910 United States Federal Census
- ↑ Hischak, Thomas S."'Damn Yankees' Casts" The Oxford Companion to the American Musical, Oxford University Press US, 2008, Template:ISBN, p. 183
- ↑ Leibman biography filmreference.com, retrieved October 15, 2010
- ↑ "'Barney Miller', see March 13, 1975" classicsitcoms.com, accessed June 20, 2011
- ↑
Alice at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Terrece, Vincent. "'Alice' listing". Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1974–1984 (1985), VNR AG, Template:ISBN, pp. 9–10
External links[]
- Linda Lavin article at Wikipedia
Linda Lavin at the Internet Movie Database
