Linda Lavin
Encyclopedia
Linda Lavin is an American
singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom
Alice
and for her Broadway
performances.
After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players
in the late 1950s. She began acting on Broadway in the 1960s, earning notice by 1966 in It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
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 Barney Miller
before getting the title role in 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. In 2010, she appeared as Ruth Steiner in Collected Stories
, garnering her fifth Tony nomination. Thrice married, Lavin spends time at her North Carolina
home on charitable activities.
, Maine
, the daughter of Lucille (née Potter), an opera singer, and David J. Lavin, a businessman. Her family was musically talented, and Lavin has been onstage since the age of five. Upon her graduation from the College of William and Mary
, she had already received her Actors' Equity Association
card. She was a member of the Compass Players
in the late 1950s. By the early 1960s, Lavin had appeared in several Broadway
shows and appeared on the 1966 cast recording
s 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.
Damn Yankees
with Phil Silvers
. In 1969, Lavin married actor Ron Leibman
, 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 Kaz
, Lavin landed a recurring role on Barney Miller
during the first and second seasons (1975–1976).
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. 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 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 an Emmy
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
. Lavin also made numerous television appearances outside of Alice, including hosting her own holiday special, Linda in Wonderland. She acted in two sitcoms, 1992's Room for Two
and 1998's Conrad Bloom. She made numerous television guest appearances, including roles on The Muppet Show
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
, The O.C.
, Touched by an Angel
and HBO's The Sopranos
.
She also appeared in many telefilms between 1967 and 1998, including: Damn Yankees!, Sadbird, The Morning After, Jerry, Like Mom, Like Me
, The $5.20 an Hour Dream, A Matter of Life and Death, 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. She directed the 1990 telefilm Flour Babies
.
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 Gerard Depardieu
(both 1989), and The Back-Up Plan
(2010).
appearances in the musicals A Family Affair (1962) and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
(1966), and plays such as The Riot Act (1963), Something Different (1967) and Cop Out (1969). She "arrived at showbiz stardom with a featured role" in the musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
(1966). Her first Tony Award
nomination was for her role in the Neil Simon
play, Last of the Red Hot Lovers in 1970. Lavin's last Broadway credit before she moved to Hollywood
was in Paul Sills' Story Theatre in 1971. In her early years, Lavin also appeared in numerous Off-Broadway
productions, including Wet Paint (1965), the musical The Mad Show
(1966) and Little Murders (1969). Lavin won the Theatre World Award
for Wet Paint and a Drama Desk Award
for Little Murders.
After more than a decade away, during which she appeared on television, Lavin returned to the Broadway stage in 1987, winning a Tony Award
and her second Drama Desk Award
for her role as Kate in Simon's play Broadway Bound
. Frank Rich
, in his New York Times review, 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." She then starred on Broadway in Gypsy as Mama Rose Hovick (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 particular portrayal of the character.
Subsequent Broadway roles included Gorgeous Teitelbaum in The Sisters Rosensweig
(1993) and Mrs. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank
(1997–1998), opposite Natalie Portman
, for which she garnered another Tony nomination as Featured Actress in a Play. 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 the Tony Award, Actress in a Play and Drama Desk Award, and the nanny in Hollywood Arms
. Off-Broadway, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Death-Defying Acts, a play for which she also won a Best Actress Obie Award
and the Lucille Lortel Award.
In 2010, Lavin appeared as Ruth Steiner in a Broadway revival of the play Collected Stories
, reprising her role for a PBS production of the work, 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 (Lincoln Center) beginning in previews in December 2010, closing February 27, 2011. Lavin appeared in the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC) production of the musical Follies
, from May 2011 to June 2011, as Hattie Walker. She is currently starring in the premiere of the Nicky Silver
play The Lyons at the Off-Broadway Vineyard Theatre, which opened on October 11, 2011 and is running through October 30.
in August 2005, with one reviewer noting, "Her nightclub act is a rewarding, sometimes revealing, and thoroughly entertaining visit." She performed her act at the Plush Room, San Francisco, with Billy Stritch and her husband Steve Bakunas in September 2005. She performed at Feinstein's at the Regency, New York in March 2006. Her latest CD, Possibilities, was released in November 2011. She is giving a concert to celebrate the CD at Birdland in December 2011.
ended in divorce in 1980. Her second marriage to Kip Niven, who played Steve Marsh, the boyfriend of Vera Louise Gorman-Novak
on Alice, ended in divorce in 1992. While Lavin has no biological children, she is the stepmother to Niven's children Jim and Kate Niven and the grandmother to Jim's sons Grayson and Talen.
Lavin married actor, artist and musician Steve Bakunas in 2005. The couple resides in Wilmington, North Carolina
where they are committed community members 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 theatre program called Girl Friends, whose purpose is to raise the self-esteem of at-risk teenage girls of the inner city."
In Wilmington, she directs for the stage. Innovations as a director included a 1998 production of William Shakespeare
's As You Like It
performed in a Brazil
ian jazz
style. In both Wilmington and New York she teaches master classes in acting and singing.
for 2010 in January 2011.
Tony Awards
Nominations
Emmy Awards
Nominations
Golden Globes
Nominations
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the 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...
Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
and for 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...
performances.
After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players
Compass Players
The Compass Players was a 1950s cabaret revue show started by alumni, dropouts and hangers-on from the University of Chicago. The troupe was active from 1955-1958 in Chicago and St. Louis...
in the late 1950s. She began acting on Broadway in the 1960s, earning notice by 1966 in It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. It is based on the comic book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.-Synopsis:The plot...
1966 and receiving her first 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 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 Barney Miller
Barney Miller
Barney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
before getting the title role in Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
, 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
Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
(winning 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...
), Gypsy (1990), The Sisters Rosensweig
The Sisters Rosensweig
The Sisters Rosensweig is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish- American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in...
(1993), The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank (play)
The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. It opened at the Cort Theatre, Broadway, on October 5, 1955, in a production by Kermit Bloomgarden, directed by Garson Kanin and designed by Boris...
(1997–1998) and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife is a play by Charles Busch.In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side milieu of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged upper class matron Marjorie Taub, who lives comfortably with her doctor husband Ira in an expensively...
(2000–2001), among others. In 2010, she appeared as Ruth Steiner in Collected Stories
Collected Stories (play)
Collected Stories is a play by Donald Margulies which premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1996.It premiered on Broadway in a limited engagement production by the Manhattan Theatre Club with previews having started April 9, 2010, opening April 28, 2010, through June 2010...
, garnering her fifth Tony nomination. Thrice married, Lavin spends time at her North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
home on charitable activities.
Early life and career
Lavin was born in PortlandPortland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, the daughter of Lucille (née Potter), an opera singer, and David J. Lavin, a businessman. Her family was musically talented, and Lavin has been onstage since the age of five. Upon her graduation from the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
, she had already received her Actors' Equity Association
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
card. She was a member of the Compass Players
Compass Players
The Compass Players was a 1950s cabaret revue show started by alumni, dropouts and hangers-on from the University of Chicago. The troupe was active from 1955-1958 in Chicago and St. Louis...
in the late 1950s. By the early 1960s, Lavin had appeared in several 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...
shows and appeared on the 1966 cast recording
Cast recording
A cast recording is a recording of a musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast...
s of The Mad Show
The Mad Show
The Mad Show is an Off-Broadway musical revue based on Mad Magazine. The music is by Mary Rodgers, the book by Larry Siegel and Stan Hart. The show's various lyricists include Siegel, Marshall Barer, Steven Vinaver, and Stephen Sondheim.-Production:...
performing Stephen Sondheim's "The Boy From...
The Boy From...
"The Boy From..." is a song with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Mary Rodgers. It was originally performed by Linda Lavin in a 1966 Off-Broadway revue entitled The Mad Show....
". From It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. It is based on the comic book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.-Synopsis:The plot...
, 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.
Television and film
In 1967, Lavin made an appearance as Gloria Thorpe in a television version of the musicalMusical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
with Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
. In 1969, Lavin married actor Ron Leibman
Ron Leibman
-Career:Leibman was a member of the Compass Players in the late 1950s. He has appeared in many films such as Phar Lap; Where's Poppa?; The Hot Rock; Slaughterhouse-Five; The Super Cops; Up the Academy; Norma Rae; Romantic Comedy; Zorro, The Gay Blade; Garden State; and Rhinestone...
, and by 1973 the couple had arrived in Hollywood, California. After various guest appearances on episodic television series such as The Nurses, Rhoda
Rhoda
Rhoda is an American television sitcom, starring Valerie Harper, which ran for five seasons, from 1974 to 1978 airing in 109 episodes. The show was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which Harper between the years 1970 and 1974 had played the role of Rhoda Morgenstern, a spunky,...
, Harry O
Harry O (TV series)
Harry O is an American crime drama series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen and was executive produced by Jerry Thorpe...
and Kaz
Kaz (TV series)
Kaz is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 10, 1978 to April 22, 1979.-Overview:Ron Leibman starred as Martin "Kaz" Kazinsky, a former convict who became a criminal defense attorney after he was released from prison. Leibman won an Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actor in...
, Lavin landed a recurring role on Barney Miller
Barney Miller
Barney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
during the first and second seasons (1975–1976).
She left Barney Miller to star in the lead role in Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
. The show was a popular hit for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and ran from 1976 to 1985. The series was based on the Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
-directed Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1974 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the American Southwest in search of a better life, along with Alfred Lutter as her son and Kris...
. Lavin portrayed Alice Hyatt
Alice Hyatt
Alice Hyatt is a fictional character in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and in the subsequent television remake Alice. In the movie, she was played by Ellen Burstyn, who won an Academy Award for the role...
, 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
David Shire
David Lee Shire is an American songwriter and the composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtrack to the movie The Taking of Pelham 123 and parts of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack such as Night on Disco Mountain, an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald...
and Alan
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
and Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
and was updated for each of the first six seasons. During the series' nine-season run, Lavin earned two Golden Globe awards and 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, 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
Vera Louise Gorman-Novak
Vera Novak was a fictional character in the long-running television series Alice. She was played by actress Beth Howland.-The "Dingy":Vera was the only original waitress besides Alice who lasted all of the show's run...
. Lavin also made numerous television appearances outside of Alice, including hosting her own holiday special, Linda in Wonderland. She acted in two sitcoms, 1992's Room for Two
Room for Two
Room for Two is a 1940 British comedy film.The story takes place in Venice, where a womanising Englishman Vic Oliver takes a strong interest to married tourist played by Frances Day. Oliver disguises himself in drag and gets himself hired as the Days' maid. When Day's philandering husband, played...
and 1998's Conrad Bloom. She made numerous television guest appearances, including roles on The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
, The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
, 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 HBO's The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.
She also appeared in many telefilms between 1967 and 1998, including: Damn Yankees!, Sadbird, The Morning After, Jerry, Like Mom, Like Me
Like Mom, Like Me
Like Mom, Like Me is a 1978 television film directed by Michael Pressman. The film was based on the novel with the same name written by Sheila Schwartz.-Plot:...
, The $5.20 an Hour Dream, A Matter of Life and Death, Another Woman's Child, Maricela, Lena: My 100 Children, Whitewash, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello
Annette Funicello
Annette Joanne Funicello is an American singer and actress. She was Walt Disney's most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to appear in a series of beach party films.-Early life and early stardom:...
Story, Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden
Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden
Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden is a 1996 film made for television, starringMary Tyler Moore. A young boy goes to visit his three aunts for the summer at their home in the south. He becomes closest to Jessica , the childlike aunt with a troubled past, who teaches him about life and...
, For the Future: The Irvine Fertility Scandal, The Ring, and Best Friends for Life. She directed the 1990 telefilm Flour Babies
Flour Babies
Flour Babies is a book written in 1992 by Anne Fine, aimed at older children, which won the Carnegie Medal.-Synopsis:The story centres around Simon Martin, a pupil in class 4C at an unnamed school. 4C is the class reserved for the school's worst students. As it so happens, a new student has...
.
Lavin made her feature film debut in The Muppets Take Manhattan
The Muppets Take Manhattan
The Muppets Take Manhattan is the third of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets, and also the final film before Henson's death. This film was produced by Henson Associates and TriStar Pictures, and was filmed on location in New York City during the summer of...
(1984). Her other feature film appearances include See You in the Morning
See You in the Morning (film)
See You in the Morning is a 1989 romantic comedy film written and directed by Alan J. Pakula, and starring Jeff Bridges, Alice Krige and Farrah Fawcett. It features music by Nat "King" Cole and Cherri Red. The original music score was composed by Michael Small.-Plot:Larry Livingstone falls in love...
, starring Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
, Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
's I Want to Go Home
I Want to Go Home (film)
I Want to Go Home is a 1989 French film directed by Alain Resnais, from a screenplay by Jules Feiffer. It explores the differences between French and American cultural values through a story about a veteran cartoonist who encounters conflicting reactions to his work during a trip abroad.-Plot:Joey...
, opposite Gerard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
(both 1989), and The Back-Up Plan
The Back-Up Plan
The Back-up Plan is a 2010 romantic comedy film, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin. It was released theatrically in the U.S. on April 23, 2010, and later in other regions...
(2010).
Theatre
Lavin began her career with BroadwayBroadway 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...
appearances in the musicals A Family Affair (1962) and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a musical with music by Burton Lane and a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner based loosely on Berkeley Square, written in 1929 by John L. Balderston. It concerns a woman who has ESP and has been reincarnated...
(1966), and plays such as The Riot Act (1963), Something Different (1967) and Cop Out (1969). She "arrived at showbiz stardom with a featured role" in the musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. It is based on the comic book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.-Synopsis:The plot...
(1966). Her first 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 was for her role in the Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
play, Last of the Red Hot Lovers in 1970. Lavin's last Broadway credit before she moved to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
was in Paul Sills' Story Theatre in 1971. In her early years, Lavin also appeared in numerous Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
productions, including Wet Paint (1965), the musical The Mad Show
The Mad Show
The Mad Show is an Off-Broadway musical revue based on Mad Magazine. The music is by Mary Rodgers, the book by Larry Siegel and Stan Hart. The show's various lyricists include Siegel, Marshall Barer, Steven Vinaver, and Stephen Sondheim.-Production:...
(1966) and Little Murders (1969). Lavin won the Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for Wet Paint and a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Little Murders.
After more than a decade away, during which she appeared on television, Lavin returned to the Broadway stage in 1987, winning 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...
and her second Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for her role as Kate in Simon's play Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
. Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
, in his New York Times review, 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." She then starred on Broadway in Gypsy as Mama Rose Hovick (1990). June Havoc
June Havoc
June Havoc was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director. Havoc was a child Vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother. She later acted on Broadway and in Hollywood and stage directed . She last appeared on television in 1990 on General Hospital...
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 particular portrayal of the character.
Subsequent Broadway roles included Gorgeous Teitelbaum in The Sisters Rosensweig
The Sisters Rosensweig
The Sisters Rosensweig is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish- American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in...
(1993) and Mrs. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank (play)
The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. It opened at the Cort Theatre, Broadway, on October 5, 1955, in a production by Kermit Bloomgarden, directed by Garson Kanin and designed by Boris...
(1997–1998), opposite Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
, for which she garnered another Tony nomination as Featured Actress in a Play. She played Marjorie in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife is a play by Charles Busch.In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side milieu of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged upper class matron Marjorie Taub, who lives comfortably with her doctor husband Ira in an expensively...
(2000–2001), co-starring Tony Roberts
Tony Roberts (actor)
David Anthony "Tony" Roberts is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in several Woody Allen movies, usually cast as Allen's best friend.-Early life:...
and Michele Lee
Michele Lee
Michele Lee is an American singer, dancer, actress, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best-known for her role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing...
, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award, Actress in a Play and Drama Desk Award, and the nanny in Hollywood Arms
Hollywood Arms
Hollywood Arms is a play by Carrie Hamilton and Carol Burnett.Adapted from Burnett's memoir One More Time, the dramedy is set in Hollywood, California in 1941 and 1951, and centers on the heartbreak and laughter shared by three generations of women living on welfare in a dingy apartment house...
. Off-Broadway, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Death-Defying Acts, a play for which she also won a Best Actress Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
and the Lucille Lortel Award.
In 2010, Lavin appeared as Ruth Steiner in a Broadway revival of the play Collected Stories
Collected Stories (play)
Collected Stories is a play by Donald Margulies which premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1996.It premiered on Broadway in a limited engagement production by the Manhattan Theatre Club with previews having started April 9, 2010, opening April 28, 2010, through June 2010...
, reprising her role for a PBS production of the work, and received a fifth Tony nomination for the role. She appeared in the new play by Jon Robin Baitz
Jon Robin Baitz
Jon Robin Baitz is an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer and sometime actor.-Life and career:Baitz was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Edward Baitz, an executive of the Carnation Company. Baitz was raised in Brazil and South Africa before the family returned to...
, Other Desert Cities, Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater (Lincoln Center) beginning in previews in December 2010, closing February 27, 2011. Lavin appeared in the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC) production of the musical Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
, from May 2011 to June 2011, as Hattie Walker. She is currently starring in the premiere of the Nicky Silver
Nicky Silver
Nicky Silver is an American playwright. Formerly of Philadelphia, he resides in New York City.As a teen, Silver attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York. He began writing after graduating from the New York University Theatre program. Many of his early plays...
play The Lyons at the Off-Broadway Vineyard Theatre, which opened on October 11, 2011 and is running through October 30.
Other work
Lavin performed a cabaret act at BirdlandBirdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
in August 2005, with one reviewer noting, "Her nightclub act is a rewarding, sometimes revealing, and thoroughly entertaining visit." She performed her act at the Plush Room, San Francisco, with Billy Stritch and her husband Steve Bakunas in September 2005. She performed at Feinstein's at the Regency, New York in March 2006. Her latest CD, Possibilities, was released in November 2011. She is giving a concert to celebrate the CD at Birdland in December 2011.
Personal life
Lavin has been married three times. Her first marriage to Ron LeibmanRon Leibman
-Career:Leibman was a member of the Compass Players in the late 1950s. He has appeared in many films such as Phar Lap; Where's Poppa?; The Hot Rock; Slaughterhouse-Five; The Super Cops; Up the Academy; Norma Rae; Romantic Comedy; Zorro, The Gay Blade; Garden State; and Rhinestone...
ended in divorce in 1980. Her second marriage to Kip Niven, who played Steve Marsh, the boyfriend of Vera Louise Gorman-Novak
Vera Louise Gorman-Novak
Vera Novak was a fictional character in the long-running television series Alice. She was played by actress Beth Howland.-The "Dingy":Vera was the only original waitress besides Alice who lasted all of the show's run...
on Alice, ended in divorce in 1992. While Lavin has no biological children, she is the stepmother to Niven's children Jim and Kate Niven and the grandmother to Jim's sons Grayson and Talen.
Lavin married actor, artist and musician Steve Bakunas in 2005. The couple resides in Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
where they are committed community members 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 theatre program called Girl Friends, whose purpose is to raise the self-esteem of at-risk teenage girls of the inner city."
In Wilmington, she directs for the stage. Innovations as a director included a 1998 production of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
performed in a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
style. In both Wilmington and New York she teaches master classes in acting and singing.
Awards
Lavin was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of FameAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame
The American Theatre Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the Executive Committee. In an announcement at a luncheon meeting on March 1972, he said that the new Theater Hall of Fame would be located in the Uris Theatre . James M...
for 2010 in January 2011.
Tony Awards
- 1987 Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play - "Broadway BoundBroadway BoundBroadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
"
Nominations
- 1970 Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play - "Last of the Red Hot Lovers"
- 1998 Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play - "The Diary of Anne Frank"
- 2001 Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play - "The Tale of the Allergist's WifeThe Tale of the Allergist's WifeThe Tale of the Allergist's Wife is a play by Charles Busch.In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side milieu of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged upper class matron Marjorie Taub, who lives comfortably with her doctor husband Ira in an expensively...
- 2010 Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play - "Collected StoriesCollected Stories (play)Collected Stories is a play by Donald Margulies which premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1996.It premiered on Broadway in a limited engagement production by the Manhattan Theatre Club with previews having started April 9, 2010, opening April 28, 2010, through June 2010...
"
Emmy Awards
Nominations
- 1979 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "AliceAlice (TV series)Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
"
Golden Globes
- 1979 Best TV Actress Musical or Comedy -"AliceAlice (TV series)Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
" - 1980 Best TV Actress Musical or Comedy -"AliceAlice (TV series)Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
"
Nominations
- 1981 Best TV Actress Musical or Comedy -"AliceAlice (TV series)Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
"
Filmography
- Damn Yankees, 1967
- The Morning After, 1974
- Jerry, 1974
- Barney MillerBarney MillerBarney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
, 1975 (dramedy) - AliceAlice (TV series)Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
, 1976 (sitcom) - Like Mom, Like MeLike Mom, Like MeLike Mom, Like Me is a 1978 television film directed by Michael Pressman. The film was based on the novel with the same name written by Sheila Schwartz.-Plot:...
, 1978 - The Muppet ShowThe Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
, Season 4, Episode 2, 1979 - The $5.20 an Hour Dream, 1980
- A Matter of Life and Death, 1981
- My 100 Children, 1983
- Another Woman's Child, 1983
- The Muppets Take ManhattanThe Muppets Take ManhattanThe Muppets Take Manhattan is the third of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets, and also the final film before Henson's death. This film was produced by Henson Associates and TriStar Pictures, and was filmed on location in New York City during the summer of...
, 1984 - Maricella, 1986
- A Place to Call Home, 1987
- I Want to Go HomeI Want to Go Home (film)I Want to Go Home is a 1989 French film directed by Alain Resnais, from a screenplay by Jules Feiffer. It explores the differences between French and American cultural values through a story about a veteran cartoonist who encounters conflicting reactions to his work during a trip abroad.-Plot:Joey...
, 1989 - See You in the MorningSee You in the Morning (film)See You in the Morning is a 1989 romantic comedy film written and directed by Alan J. Pakula, and starring Jeff Bridges, Alice Krige and Farrah Fawcett. It features music by Nat "King" Cole and Cherri Red. The original music score was composed by Michael Small.-Plot:Larry Livingstone falls in love...
, 1989 - Room for Two, 1992 (sitcom)
- Whitewash, 1994
- A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
- Secrets from the Rose Garden, 1996
- The RingThe Ring (1996 film)The Ring is a 1996 film, directed by Armand Mastroianni, written by Danielle Steel and starring Nastassja Kinski and Michael York.- Plot :...
, 1996 - For the Future, 1996
- Conrad Bloom, 1998 (sitcom)
- Best Friends for Life, 1998
- Collected StoriesCollected Stories (play)Collected Stories is a play by Donald Margulies which premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1996.It premiered on Broadway in a limited engagement production by the Manhattan Theatre Club with previews having started April 9, 2010, opening April 28, 2010, through June 2010...
, 2002 (filmed play) - The SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
: "No Show" 2002 - The O.C.The O.C.The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
, 2004, 2005 as "The Nana" - The Back-Up PlanThe Back-Up PlanThe Back-up Plan is a 2010 romantic comedy film, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin. It was released theatrically in the U.S. on April 23, 2010, and later in other regions...
, 2010
Stage
- A Family Affair, 1962
- The Riot Act, 1963
- Wet Paint, 1964–1965
- It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's SupermanIt's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's SupermanIt's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. It is based on the comic book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.-Synopsis:The plot...
, 1966 - The Mad ShowThe Mad ShowThe Mad Show is an Off-Broadway musical revue based on Mad Magazine. The music is by Mary Rodgers, the book by Larry Siegel and Stan Hart. The show's various lyricists include Siegel, Marshall Barer, Steven Vinaver, and Stephen Sondheim.-Production:...
, 1966 (off-BroadwayOff-BroadwayOff-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
) - On a Clear Day You Can See ForeverOn a Clear Day You Can See ForeverOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a musical with music by Burton Lane and a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner based loosely on Berkeley Square, written in 1929 by John L. Balderston. It concerns a woman who has ESP and has been reincarnated...
, 1967 - Something Different, 1967
- Little MurdersLittle MurdersLittle Murders is a 1971 black comedy film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd, directed by Alan Arkin. It is the story of a girl, Patsy , who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred , to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages...
- Cop-Out, 1969
- The Last of the Red Hot LoversThe Last of the Red Hot LoversThis article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Last of the Red Hot Lovers .Last of the Red Hot Lovers is a play by Neil Simon....
, 1969–1970 - Paul SillsPaul SillsPaul Sills was a director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of Chicago's The Second City.-Biography:...
' Story Theater, 1970 - The Enemy is Dead, 1973
- Broadway BoundBroadway BoundBroadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
, 1986–1987 - Gypsy, 1990
- The Sisters RosensweigThe Sisters RosensweigThe Sisters Rosensweig is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish- American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in...
, 1993 - Death Defying ActsDeath Defying ActsDeath Defying Acts is a 2007 supernatural romantic thriller. The film is a UK-Australian co-production directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It concerns an episode in the life of Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of his career in...
, 1995 - Cakewalk, 1996 (Off-BroadwayOff-BroadwayOff-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
) - The Diary of Anne FrankThe Diary of Anne Frank (play)The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. It opened at the Cort Theatre, Broadway, on October 5, 1955, in a production by Kermit Bloomgarden, directed by Garson Kanin and designed by Boris...
- The Tale of the Allergist's WifeThe Tale of the Allergist's WifeThe Tale of the Allergist's Wife is a play by Charles Busch.In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side milieu of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged upper class matron Marjorie Taub, who lives comfortably with her doctor husband Ira in an expensively...
by Charles BuschCharles BuschCharles Louis Busch is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and female impersonator, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which was a success on Broadway.-Early life:Busch was born in 1954 and...
, 2000–2001 - Hollywood ArmsHollywood ArmsHollywood Arms is a play by Carrie Hamilton and Carol Burnett.Adapted from Burnett's memoir One More Time, the dramedy is set in Hollywood, California in 1941 and 1951, and centers on the heartbreak and laughter shared by three generations of women living on welfare in a dingy apartment house...
by Carol BurnettCarol BurnettCarol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
, 2002 - Finishing the PictureFinishing the PictureFinishing the Picture is Arthur Miller's final play. It was produced at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois in October 2004,just months before Miller's death on February 10, 2005.-Production:...
by Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, 2004 - The New Century by Paul RudnickPaul RudnickPaul M. Rudnick is an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. His plays include I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla and The New Century. He also wrote for Premiere magazine under the pseudonym Libby Gelman-Waxner, and for Spy.Rudnick grew up in Piscataway...
, 2008 - Collected StoriesCollected Stories (play)Collected Stories is a play by Donald Margulies which premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1996.It premiered on Broadway in a limited engagement production by the Manhattan Theatre Club with previews having started April 9, 2010, opening April 28, 2010, through June 2010...
by Donald MarguliesDonald MarguliesDonald Margulies is an American playwright and a professor of English and Theater Studies at Yale University...
, 2010 - Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz, 2010–2011
- FolliesFolliesFollies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
, Kennedy Center, 2011