Broadway actress and CBS sitcom “Alice” star Linda Lavin died Sunday at age 87 from complications of lung cancer.
The Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress and singer’s career began in New York at a young age, as reported by CNN. She began performing at 5 years old, according to her alma mater of College of William & Mary.
Born in Portland, Maine, she began performing in plays and musicals on Broadway in the 1960s and starred in the 1966 musical “It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman.”
CBS’s “Alice” brought Lavin fame as a widowed mother working as a waitress to pursue her dream of becoming a singer. Lavin brought the starring role to TV from 1976 to 1985, won two Golden Globes, was nominated for a third Globe and nominated for an Emmy Award.
After “Alice,” Lavin was in television, film and theater. She won a Tony Award in 1986 for “Broadway Bound.” Tony nominations would follow for other projects. Among voice work, directing and producing, Lavin also taught master classes at William & Mary.
Lavin was most recently seen in “No Good Deed” on Netflix and was scheduled to appear in California in January in the play “Mid-Century Modern.”
“She was such a legend. The first major role I had in television was playing her daughter,” Heaton said. “She was my mentor, my guardian angel. She really looked out for me, taught me a lot, not just about acting but about life. And we had dinner a couple months ago when I was in LA, and she was just as sharp and funny and energetic as she always has been,” actress Patricia Heaton posted on X about Lavin, whom she worked with on ABC sitcom “Room for Two” from 1992 to 1993.
Heaton added that Lavin was a good friend and she will miss her.
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Rebecca Barnabi
