Tony-winning ‘Alice’ star Linda Lavin dies at 87
By Jessie Yeung, CNN
(CNN) — Linda Lavin, the Tony- and Golden Globe-winning actress and singer best known for starring in the CBS sitcom “Alice” for nearly a decade, died on Sunday at the age of 87.
She died due to complications from recently discovered lung cancer, according to her representatives.
Lavin’s long, illustrious career spanned both the stage and the screen and started at a young age; born into a musical family, Lavin has been performing since the age of 5, according to her alma mater, William & Mary.
She got her big break in New York, cutting her teeth in Broadway plays and musicals throughout the 1960s.
She starred in the 1966 musical “It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman,” with the New York Times review at the time praising her performance as “fresh.” “I wish she was in every musical and revue,” wrote Times critic Stanley Kauffmann.
But it was the television show “Alice,” which follows a widowed mother pursuing her dreams of being a singer while working at a diner, that made Lavin a household name.
She played the titular character throughout the show’s entire nine-season run from 1976 to 1985 – during which she won two Golden Globes, was nominated a third time, and was also nominated for an Emmy Award.
In the following years she juggled television, film and theater, nabbing a Tony Award for her lead role in the 1986 play “Broadway Bound” – and more Tony nominations for several other projects. Her work never slowed over the years, with stints in voice acting, directing and producing, and teaching master classes at William & Mary.
Her most recent performance was in the Netflix show “No Good Deed,” following three families fighting to buy the same house – which released earlier this month. She had been set to act in another play, “Mid-Century Modern,” in California in January.
The news of her death sparked tributes and messages of mourning from those in Hollywood and Broadway who remembered her as a respected veteran who shaped the industry.
Actress Patricia Heaton shared a video on X reminiscing about her time working with Lavin on the short-lived ABC sitcom “Room for Two” from 1992 to 1993.
“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.”
“I’m going to miss her. She was a good friend,” Heaton added.
CNN’s Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.
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