The talented actress Linda Lavin passed away on Sunday in Los Angeles. She was best known for her role as a single mother in the hit sitcom “Alice.” She was 87 years old. A representative for Lavin said that she died from problems related to her lung cancer, which had just been diagnosed.
The entertainment business was shocked by her death because she was still working up to the end. She went to the opening of her new Netflix series “No Good Deed” in Hollywood on December 4, just a few weeks before she passed away.
Lavin’s career spanned seven decades and showed how well she could switch between theater, film, and television. She became a well-known supporter of women’s rights, especially at work. In 1976, she played Alice Hyatt on CBS’s “Alice,” her most famous role. The person in the story was a single mother working as a waitress at Mel’s Diner to support her family after losing her husband. Many working women liked the show, and it ran for nine successful seasons.
In an interview with Charlie Rose in 1992, Lavin said, “I heard from several thousand women.” “They were saying, ‘Thank you for showing me ‘me,’ thank you for being real, thank you for showing what the issues are, thank you for giving me hope.'”
This role made Lavin more famous than just an actor. To better understand the difficulties single mothers face, she became an advocate for working women and worked with feminist icon Gloria Steinem. When Lavin was in her waitress uniform, she often talked about equal pay. Her performance earned her an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe Awards.
Born on October 15, 1937, in Portland, Maine, Lavin grew up in a family that played music. She started her career in theater, and director Hal Prince saw her in the chorus of “A Family Affair.” The musical “It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman” was one of the many Broadway parts that resulted from this.
Lavin hit new heights with her Tony-nominated performance in Neil Simon’s “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” (1970) and won a Tony Award for “Broadway Bound” in 1987. Frank Rich, a reviewer for The New York Times, praised her portrayal of Kate, noting that Lavin “redefined the genre” of the Jewish mother.
Even in her eighties, Lavin kept a busy schedule. At the time of her passing, she was filming “Mid-Century Modern,” a Hulu comedy series starring Nathan Lane and Matt Bomer. The production had finished seven of its ten episodes before the holiday break.
“Working with Linda was one of the highlights of our careers,” said the show’s creators Max Mutchnick, David Kohan, and James Burrows. “She was a magnificent actress and a beautiful soul.”
Lavin’s last public appearance was at the opening of “No Good Deed.” The series creator, Liz Feldman, remembers her as “incredibly gracious, totally hilarious, and pitch-perfect.”
She is left by her husband of 19 years, Steve Bakunas, who was by her side when she passed. Lavin had a successful career that included parts in “The Intern,” “Being the Ricardos,” and “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.” She also had recurring roles on television, including “Sean Saves the World,” “9JKL,” and “B Positive,” among many others.
