Actress Linda Lavin, the Tony-winning actress best known for her TV role as the waitress 'Alice' has died. She was 87.
Linda Lavin, Tony-winning Broadway actress who starred in the sitcom ‘Alice,’ dead at 87 https://t.co/0Qmo2v4lus pic.twitter.com/uAG0bk4kSN
— New York Post (@nypost) December 30, 2024
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 in Los Angeles on Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Bill Veloric, told the Associated Press 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.
Lavin won two Golden Globes for her role as Alice, and was nominated for an Emmy.
RIP, Linda. I loved the show “Alice.”
— Degreewhisperer (@degreewhisperer) December 30, 2024
'Alice' was nominated for 8 Emmys.
RIP Linda. I have fond memories meeting her when I bartended yrs at iconic MOLYVOS restaurant NYC. Fun times there. God bless her soul….✨🙏✨ #LindaLavin #Alice #Broadway https://t.co/K0W4DXJ6XN
— Tommy Bayiokos (@TommyBayiokos) December 30, 2024
That's a very cool story.
"Until ALICE, there hadn’t been a single mother on TV in a low income job, fighting for healthcare, fighting for benefits…Those stories came out of awareness of what was going on for working women.”
— Will McKinley (@willmckinley) December 30, 2024
Farewell to Linda Lavin (1937-2024)https://t.co/p374oNRLgT #LindaLavin pic.twitter.com/xPKD4z0v5w
The 1970s had some very groundbreaking television.
One of the rarest gifts in life is to make a “new” old friend. Linda Lavin was that for me and my family. Rest in peace dear Linda. pic.twitter.com/wNXddQ9wNQ
— Joe Mantegna (@JoeMantegna) December 30, 2024
Actress Patricia Heaton also remembered her friend:
I just heard the news that my dear friend Linda Lavin died . Totally unexpected, even at the age of 87. A true friend and a total force of nature. 💔💔💔💔💔💔 pic.twitter.com/G64lXs1L7n
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) December 30, 2024
With her musical background (her mother was an opera singer) and Broadway career, Lavin actually sang the theme song for 'Alice':
Linda Lavin was great in ALICE, and she was one of the few sitcom stars who sang her show's opening theme. (The lyrics and/or arrangement changed every season but I don't think they ever topped the first one.) https://t.co/YqOw0Bo3IB
— Christopher J. Scalia (@cjscalia) December 30, 2024
Linda Lavin is survived by her husband, artist and drummer Steve Bakunas, who she married in 2005.
Our sympathies to her family, friends, and loved ones.
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