Misleading
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Register
Misleading
  • About Us
  • Log in
  • Don’t Mislead (Archive)
  • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Misleading
No Result
View All Result

Linda Lavin, star of sitcom “Alice” and Tony Award winner, dies at 87

December 30, 2024
in Missleading
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
0
Linda Lavin, star of sitcom “Alice” and Tony Award winner, dies at 87
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actress who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom “Alice,” has died. She was 87.

Lavin died unexpectedly Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Michael Gagliardo, told CBS News in an email.

A success on Broadway, Lavin tried her luck in Hollywood in the mid-1970s. She was chosen to star in a new CBS sitcom based on “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” the Martin Scorsese-directed film that won Ellen Burstyn an Oscar for playing the title waitress.

Linda Lavin at the Premiere of Netflix’s “No Good Deed” at the TUDUM Theater on Dec. 04, 2024 in Hollywood.

Photo by Axelle / Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic


The title was shortened to “Alice” and Lavin become a role model for working moms as Alice Hyatt, a widowed mother with a 12-year-old son working in a roadside diner outside Phoenix. The show, with Lavin singing the theme song “There’s a New Girl in Town,” ran from 1976 to 1985.

The show turned “Kiss my grits” into a catchphrase and co-starred Polly Holliday as waitress Flo and Vic Tayback as the gruff owner and head chef of Mel’s Diner.

The series bounced around the CBS schedule during its first two seasons but became a hit leading into “All in the Family” on Sunday nights in October 1977. It was among primetime’s top 10 series in four of the next five seasons. Variety magazine listed it among the all-time best workplace comedies.

Lavin soon went on to win a Tony for best actress in a play for Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound” in 1987.

linda-lavin-and-vic-tayback.jpg
A january 1983 photo shows Linda Lavin (as waitress Alice Hyatt) and Vic Tayback (as Mel Sharples, owner of the diner) from “Alice,” a sitcom about characters who work at Mel’s Diner.

Photo by CBS via Getty Images


She was working as recently as this month promoting a new Netflix series in which she appears, “No Good Deed,” and filming a forthcoming Hulu series, “Mid-Century Modern,” according to Deadline, which first reported her death.

Lavin grew up in Portland, Maine, and moved to New York City after graduating from the College of William and Mary. She sang in nightclubs and in ensemble shows.

Iconic producer and director Hal Prince gave Lavin her first big break while directing the Broadway musical “It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman.” She went on to earn a Tony nomination in Simon’s “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” in 1969 before winning a Tony 18 years later for another Simon play, “Broadway Bound.”

In the mid 1970s, Lavin moved to Los Angeles. She had a recurring role on “Barney Miller” and in 1976 was chosen to star in “Alice.”

Back on Broadway, Lavin later starred Paul Rudnick’s comedy “The New Century,” had a concert show called “Songs & Confessions of a One-Time Waitress” and earned a Tony nomination in Donald Margulies’ “Collected Stories.”

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press raved about Lavin in “Collected Stories,” writing that she “gives one of those complete, nuanced performances, capturing the woman’s intellectual vigor, her wry sense of humor and her increasing physical frailty with astonishing fidelity. And Lavin’s sense of timing is superb, whether delivering a joke or acerbically dissecting the work of her protegee.”

Lavin basked in a burst of renewed attention in her 70s, earning a Tony nomination for Nicky Silver’s “The Lyons.” She also starred in “Other Desert Cities” and a revival of “Follies” before they transferred to Broadway.

The AP again raved about Lavin in “The Lyons,” calling her “an absolute wonder to behold as Rita Lyons, a nag of a mother with a collection of firm beliefs and eye rolls, a matriarch who is both suffocating and keeping everyone at arm’s length.”

She also appeared in the film “Wanderlust” with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, and released her first CD, “Possibilities.” She played Jennifer Lopez’s grandmother in “The Back-Up Plan.”

When asked for guidance for up-and-coming actresses, Lavin stressed one thing. “I say that what happened for me was that work brings work. As long as it wasn’t morally reprehensible to me, I did it,” she told the AP in 2011.

She and Steve Bakunas, an artist, musician and her third husband, converted an old automotive garage into the 50-seat Red Barn Studio Theatre in Wilmington, North Carolina.

It opened in 2007 and their productions include “Doubt” by John Patrick Shanley, “Glengarry Glen Ross” by David Mamet, “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire and “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” by Charles Busch, in which Lavin also starred on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination.

She returned to TV in 2013 in “Sean Saves the World,” starring “Will & Grace’s” Sean Hayes, a show that lasted a season. Lavin also made appearances on “Mom” and “9JKL.”

Previous Post

Slot88 Gacor Maxwin: Kisah Sukses Pemain yang Memenangkan Jackpot Besar

Next Post

Former President Jimmy Carter’s three interviews with 60 Minutes

Related Posts

Missleading

DeSantis claimed that ‘everyone’ in Alligator Alcatraz had a deportation warrant. Lawyers claim he is wrong.

July 31, 2025
Sweeney’s Calvin Klein Energy Is Giving Nothing Comes Between Me and Racial Undertones
Don’t Mislead

Sweeney’s Calvin Klein Energy Is Giving Nothing Comes Between Me and Racial Undertones

July 30, 2025
Trump Nominates Matt Gaetz For Attorney General
Missleading

Trump’s Response To Allegations That He Fired Colbert

July 30, 2025
Missleading

The COVID conspiracy theories are preventing us from preventing the next pandemic

July 29, 2025
Records Can Lie. UPenn Cut Lia Thomas—Meanwhile Flojo’s Numbers Talk Loud
Don’t Mislead

Records Can Lie. UPenn Cut Lia Thomas—Meanwhile Flojo’s Numbers Talk Loud

July 29, 2025
Missleading

Markwayne Mullin, Sen. Markwayne Mullin said falsely that Epstein’s guilty plea was reached under Obama

July 29, 2025
Next Post
Former President Jimmy Carter’s three interviews with 60 Minutes

Former President Jimmy Carter's three interviews with 60 Minutes

New species, including “blob-headed” fish, identified across world in 2024

New species, including "blob-headed" fish, identified across world in 2024

Please login to join discussion
Misleading

Misleading is your trusted source for uncovering fake news, analyzing misinformation, and educating readers about deceptive media tactics. Join the fight for truth today!

TRENDING

Trump Endorses Key Senate Race: “I Need Him in Washington”

Records Can Lie. UPenn Cut Lia Thomas—Meanwhile Flojo’s Numbers Talk Loud

Coldplay’s Frontman Finds Love Among the Stars—Astronomer’s Kiss Sends HR Orbiting

LATEST

DeSantis claimed that ‘everyone’ in Alligator Alcatraz had a deportation warrant. Lawyers claim he is wrong.

Sweeney’s Calvin Klein Energy Is Giving Nothing Comes Between Me and Racial Undertones

Trump’s Response To Allegations That He Fired Colbert

  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright © 2025 Misleading.
Misleading is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • About Us
  • Log in
  • Don’t Mislead (Archive)
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Misleading.
Misleading is not responsible for the content of external sites.