Lainie Kazan
Encyclopedia
Lainie Kazan is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress and singer.

Personal life

Kazan was born Lanie Levine in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the daughter of a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish father who worked as a bookie
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...

 and a Turkish
History of the Jews in Turkey
Turkish Jews The history of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey covers the 2,400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey. There have been Jewish communities in Asia Minor since at least the 5th century BCE and many Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Spain were welcomed to the...

 Sephardic Jewish mother, Carole, whom Kazan has described as "neurotic, fragile and artistic." She serves on the boards of the Young Musician's Foundation, AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 Project LA, and B'nai Brith.
She is a graduate of Hofstra University
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead, New York, United States, about east of New York City: less than an hour away by train or car...

.

Career

Lainie made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 debut in The Happiest Girl in the World
The Happiest Girl in the World
The Happiest Girl in the World is a musical with a book by Fred Saidy and Henry Mayers, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and music taken from the works of Jacques Offenbach....

in 1961 followed by Bravo Giovanni
Bravo Giovanni
Bravo Giovanni is a musical with a book by A. J. Russell, lyrics by Ronny Graham, and music by Milton Schafer. It is based upon the novel, "The Crime of Giovanni Venturi", by Howard Shaw ....

(1962). She served as understudy to Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

 in Funny Girl, finally getting to go on 18 months into the run when the star was felled by a serious throat problem. Coincidentally, both had attended the same high school, Erasmus Hall High School
Erasmus Hall High School
Erasmus Hall Campus High School is a four-year public high school in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States operated by the New York City Department of Education....

 in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

. Kazan's mother alerted the press and, encouraged by rave reviews for her performance, she quit the show and set out to establish herself in a singing career.

As her popularity increased, Kazan posed nude for a spread in the October 1970 issue of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

,
which was reused in Pocket Playboy #4, issued in 1974. Her appearance in the magazine opened the door for her to headline and operate two different Playboy Jazz Clubs, both under Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...

's overview, which she called Lainie's Lounge East and West on opposite coasts, one in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 and the other in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. Her Playboy photographs also inspired the look of Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....

's DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 superheroine Big Barda
Big Barda
Big Barda is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Mister Miracle #4 , and was created by Jack Kirby....

.

Kazan appeared in numerous supper clubs across the country, and she guested on Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

's variety series 26 times. Other television work includes a recurring role as Aunt Freida on the Fran Drescher
Fran Drescher
Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher is an American film and television actress, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer, author, singer, talk show host, political lobbyist and health activist...

 sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 The Nanny
The Nanny (TV series)
The Nanny is an American television sitcom co-produced by Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc., and Fran Drescher in association with TriStar Television for the CBS network...

and as Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Louise Alley is an American actress known for her role in the TV show Cheers, in which she played Rebecca Howe from 1987–1993, winning an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1991...

's mother on Veronica's Closet
Veronica's Closet
Veronica's Closet is a sitcom which aired on NBC from September 25, 1997, to June 27, 2000.The show starred Kirstie Alley as Veronica “Ronnie” Chase, the head of her own lingerie company.- Season one :...

,
and guest shots on St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...

(resulting in an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 nomination), The Paper Chase
The Paper Chase (TV series)
The Paper Chase is a television series based on a 1970 novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr., as well as a 1973 film based on the novel. It follows the lives of law student James T. Hart and his classmates at Harvard Law School.-Production:...

,
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...

,
and Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...

.
She was also featured in My Big Fat Greek Life
My Big Fat Greek Life
My Big Fat Greek Life is a situation comedy series that ran on CBS in 2003. The series is a continuation on the 2002 movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and was produced by HBO Television and Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions for Sony Pictures Television....

,
a short-lived series based on the Nia Vardalos
Nia Vardalos
Antonia Eugenia "Nia" Vardalos is a Canadian-American actress, screenwriter, director, singer and producer. Her most notable work is the 2002 Academy Award–nominated film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.-Personal life:...

 hit film My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian and American romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos , a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class "White...

,
in which she had also starred alongside Vardalos. She appeared in a scene as the mother of Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...

's character in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a 2007 comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Barry Fanaro, and starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James as the title characters. The film was released on July 20, 2007, in the U.S., August 16, 2007, in Australia and on September 21, 2007, in the UK and...

,
but it was deleted in the feature film. It is, however, included in the special features on disc. Prior to this film, she had appeared with its co-star Kevin James
Kevin James
Kevin James is an American playwrite, actor, writer, and producer. He is widely known for playing Doug Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. He is also known for his lead roles in the comedy films I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, The Dilemma, and...

 in three episodes of his The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...

 TV series as the once-renowned singer Ava St. Clair.

Kazan returned to Broadway to recreate her film role for the musical adaptation of My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year (musical)
My Favorite Year is a musical with a book by Joseph Dougherty, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. It is based on the film of the same name.-Production history:...

,
earning a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 nomination for her performance. She completed a stint in The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...

.
She has also appeared in regional productions of A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...

,
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...

,
Gypsy
Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...

,
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider...

,
Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....

,
and Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...

,
among others. In 1984, she made a guest appearance on the Faerie Tale Theatre
Faerie Tale Theatre
Faerie Tale Theatre is a live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales. Shelley Duvall serves as narrator, host and executive producer of the program, and occasionally stars in episodes...

episode Pinocchio as Sophia the Blue Fairy.

In recent years, Kazan has performed on concert stages and in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 and Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

 showrooms.

She appeared in an episode of Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...

,
playing the mother of Bobby, who was soon to become the central character's brother-in-law. Thus, her character was soon to become the mother-in-law of the central character.

On August 17, 2010, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Kazan will join the cast of Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

for Season 7. She will play the role of a self-employed business owner and neighbor to Susan.

Filmography

  • Dayton's Devils
    Dayton's Devils
    Dayton's Devils is a 1968 crime film starring Rory Calhoun, Leslie Nielsen and Lainie Kazan. It was Rigg Kennedy's first film. M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell made a cameo appearance.-Plot:...

    (1968)
  • Lady in Cement
    Lady In Cement
    Lady In Cement is a 1968 detective film, directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Martin Gabel and Richard Conte. A sequel to the 1967 film Tony Rome, and based on the novel by Marvin H...

    (1968)
  • Romance of a Horsethief (1971)
  • One from the Heart
    One from the Heart
    One from the Heart is a 1982 musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The characters themselves do not actually sing but the powerful score dominates the movie. It is set entirely in Las Vegas, on the Las Vegas Strip and the desert surrounding the city...

    (1982)
  • My Favorite Year
    My Favorite Year
    My Favorite Year is a 1982 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin which tells the story of a young comedy writer. It stars Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Lou Jacobi, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell, and Gloria Stuart. O'Toole was...

    (1982)
  • Lust in the Dust
    Lust in the Dust
    Lust in the Dust is a 1985 Western comedy film starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Cesar Romero, and Lainie Kazan, and directed by Paul Bartel. It takes its title from a longstanding nickname given to the 1946 Western Duel in the Sun...

    (1985)
  • The Journey of Natty Gann
    The Journey of Natty Gann
    The Journey of Natty Gann is a 1985 American film directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and released by Buena Vista Pictures.-Plot:Set in 1935, the movie tells the story of a young woman, Natty Gann...

    (1985)
  • The Delta Force
    The Delta Force (film)
    The Delta Force is a 1986 American action film starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin as leaders of an elite squad of Special Forces troops based on the real life U.S. Army Delta Force unit. It was directed by Menahem Golan and featured Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Vaughn, Steve James, Robert...

    (1986)
  • Medium Rare (1987)
  • Harry and the Hendersons
    Harry and the Hendersons
    Harry and the Hendersons is a 1987 American comedy film directed and produced by William Dear, and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Lainie Kazan and Don Ameche. It is the story of a family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot...

    (1987)
  • Married to the Mob
    Married to the Mob
    Married to the Mob is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine.Michelle Pfeiffer, in something of a departure from her previous roles, gave an acclaimed lead performance as a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Matthew Modine as the...

    (1988)
  • Beaches
    Beaches (film)
    Beaches , is a 1988 American comedy-drama film adapted by Mary Agnes Donoghue from the Iris Rainer Dart novel of the same name...

    (1988)
  • Eternity (1989)
  • Out of the Dark
    Out of the Dark (1989 film)
    Out of the Dark is an erotic comedy horror film released in 1989 starring Karen Witter. The film is notable for being Divine's last movie.-Plot:...

    (1989)
  • 29th Street
    29th Street (film)
    29th Street is a 1991 American comedy-drama film. It was written and directed by George Gallo and was adapted from the story by Frank Pesce and James Franciscus.- Plot :...

    (1991)
  • I Don't Buy Kisses Anymore (1992)
  • The Cemetery Club
    The Cemetery Club
    -Plot:Based on the play by Ivan Menchell, this drama concerns three friends, Doris , Lucille , and Esther . All three live in the same Jewish community in Pittsburgh, are in their mid-to-late 50s, and have become widows within the past few months...

    (1993)
  • Movies Money Murder (1996)
  • Love Is All There Is
    Love Is All There Is
    Love Is All There Is is a 1996 romantic comedy film directed by Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor, who also both star in the movie.- Plot :...

    (1996)
  • The Associate
    The Associate
    The Associate is a 1996 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Dianne Wiest, Eli Wallach, Timothy Daly, Bebe Neuwirth, Austin Pendleton and Lainie Kazan...

    (1996)
  • Allie & Me (1997)
  • The Big Hit
    The Big Hit
    The Big Hit is a 1998 American black comedy crime film directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Che-Kirk Wong. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, and Elliot Gould....

    (1998)
  • Permanent Midnight
    Permanent Midnight
    Permanent Midnight is a 1998 biographical romantic comedy-drama film directed by David Veloz starring Ben Stiller. The film is based on Jerry Stahl's autobiographical book of the same name, and tells the story of Stahl's rise from a small-time television writer to his success as a comedy writer...

    (1998)
  • The Unknown Cyclist (1998)
  • Kimberly (1999)
  • Mike & Spike Movie (1999)
  • The Crew (2000)
  • The Dress Code (2000)
  • What's Cooking? (2000)
  • My Big Fat Greek Wedding
    My Big Fat Greek Wedding
    My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian and American romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos , a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class "White...

    (2002)
  • Eight Crazy Nights
    Eight Crazy Nights
    Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights is a 2002 animated musical comedy film co-written by and starring Adam Sandler. Unlike most mainstream holiday films, it centers on Jewish characters during the Hanukkah season, as opposed to religious or secular celebration of Christmas...

    (2002) (voice)
  • Returning Lilly (2002) TV film
  • Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
    Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
    Broadway: The Golden Age is a 2004 documentary by Rick McKay, telling the story of the "golden age" of Broadway by the oral history of the legendary actors of the 40s and 50s, incorporating rare lost footage of actual performances and never-before-seen personal home movies and photos.-The Cast:The...

    (2003) (documentary)
  • A Good Night to Die (2003)
  • Gigli
    Gigli
    Gigli is a 2003 romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan....

    (2003)
  • Red Riding Hood (2004)
  • Whiskey School (2005)
  • Bratz: The Movie
    Bratz: The Movie
    Bratz: The Movie is a live-action feature film based on the Bratz line of cartoon characters and dolls. It was released to American theaters on August 3, 2007. It was co-produced by MGA Entertainment, Avi Arad Productions, and Crystal Sky Pictures teamed up. Crystal Sky Pictures financed the film,...

    (2007)
  • Beau Jest (2007)
  • You Don't Mess with the Zohan
    You Don't Mess with the Zohan
    You Don't Mess with the Zohan is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Carlito Cabardo, and produced by and starring Adam Sandler. This is the fourth film which has starred Sandler and has been directed by Dugan...

    (2008)
  • Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!!
    Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!!
    Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!! is a 2010 comedy film directed, written and produced by Evgeny Afineevsky which stars Lainie Kazan, Saul Rubinek, Vincent Pastore, John Lloyd Young, Jai Rodriguez, Bruce Vilanch, and Carmen Electra. The theme song, "The Word Is Love" is written by Desmond Child and performed...

    (2009)
  • Expecting Mary
    Expecting Mary
    Expecting Mary is a 2010 comedy-drama film starring Elliott Gould and Linda Gray. It was directed by Dan Gordon and produced by Kim Waltrip with executive producer Jim Casey The film premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2010 on January 16 and was selected as the opening film at...

    (2010)
  • Desperate Housewives
    Desperate Housewives
    Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

    (2010)

External links

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