Broadway Star Linda Lavin Passes Away at 87 After Battling Lung Cancer
Broadway star Linda Lavin passed away at the age of 87 after battling lung cancer. The actress last appeared in No Good Deed. Scroll down to read the details.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death
Broadway star Linda Lavin passed away at the age of 87 following a recent diagnosis of lung cancer. According to reports from Deadline, the actress died on Sunday, December 29, due to complications from the disease. Lavin’s PR representative confirmed the unfortunate news to the media.
Days before her death, the Alice star was spotted promoting her latest project, No Good Deed, in which she starred alongside Lisa Kudrow.
Lavin’s journey in the entertainment industry began with theater plays in the 1960s. Some of the notable titles she was a part of included Something Different, Paul Sills’ Story Theatre, and Last of the Red Hot Lovers, which earned her a Tony nomination.
The late actress spent her formative years in Portland after her grandparents, who were Russian immigrants, settled in the city. Her family was part of the Jewish community, and it was Lavin’s mother who encouraged her to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.
In a 1992 interview with People Magazine, the actress shared, "There's a picture of me at 1 1/2—I use it at the end of my show—where I'm in my rompers, looking out at the world with wonder and joy and hope." She added, "That's still me. I am still her."
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The actress relocated to New York and became part of the Broadway play It’s a Bird... It’s a Plane... It’s Superman. Though the production was a flop, Lavin performed one of the musical’s most popular songs, You’ve Got Possibilities.
Reflecting on the track in a 2018 interview, Lavin said, “If you’ve seen that show and listened to that song, you know it’s an impossible song to learn. It’s got 87 verses, and it changes keys a million times.” She continued, “By that time, I knew the song backwards and forwards, and they gave me the part right there and then.”
After gaining success on Broadway, the actress was cast in the 1970s sitcom Alice. The show was based on Ellen Burstyn’s Oscar-winning performance in the 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Lavin initially worried about how she would portray such an iconic role.
However, the show went on to become a huge success, and Lavin earned significant recognition in the industry.
In her final days, Linda Lavin had been working on an upcoming Hulu project, Mid-Century Modern.