Linda Lavin, the award-winning actress best known for starring in the popular comedy “Alice,” has died. She was 87 years old.
Rabin was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and died Sunday from complications from the disease, a representative told The Associated Press.
She was active in the weeks leading up to her death, appearing at the Los Angeles premiere of her Netflix series “No Good Deed” earlier this month.
Hollywood stars who died in 2024: photos
Linda Rabin has passed away. The actress was 87 years old. (via CBS, Getty Images)
Apparently, Lavin knew from an early age that she was destined to be an actress for the rest of her life, and moved to New York after college. Her first big break came when she appeared in the Broadway musical It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Superman.
In 1969, she received her first Tony Award nomination for her work in The Last of the Red Hot Lovers.
Linda Lavin and husband Steve Bakunas attend the Los Angeles premiere of 'No Good Deed' at the Tudam Theater on December 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Gilbert Flores/Variety, via Getty Images)
By the 70s she moved to Los Angeles and began getting work as a television actress. She appeared in an episode of “Rhoda” and then landed a small recurring role on “Barney Miller.”
In 1976, she was chosen to star in a new CBS sitcom based on Ellen Burstyn's Oscar-winning waitress comedy-drama Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
The title was shortened to “Alice,” and Lavin became a role model for working mothers as Alice Hyatt, a widowed mother of a 12-year-old son who worked in a roadside diner outside Phoenix. The show, which featured Lavin singing the theme song “There's a New Girl in Town,” aired from 1976 to 1985.
“Alice” cast left to right: “Flo” Polly Holliday as Florence Jean Castleberry; Vic Tyback plays diner owner Mel Sharples. Philip McKeon plays Alice's son Tommy. Linda Lavin as Alice Hyatt. Beth Howland as Vera Louise Gorman. (Getty Images)
The show adopted the tagline “Kiss My Grits” and co-starred Polly Holliday as waitress Flo and Vic Tyback as Mel's Diner's surly owner and head chef.
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The series moved around CBS' schedule for its first two seasons, but it became a hit leading to “All in the Family” on Sunday nights in October 1977. It was a top 10 primetime series in four of its next five seasons. Variety magazine named it one of the best workplace comedies of all time.
“Alice” is based on the Oscar-winning film “Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.” (via CBS, Getty Images)
After Alice ended, Lavin continued to work in Hollywood, but briefly returned to Broadway. In 1987, she starred in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress.
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She played several roles on stage in the years following her success with “Alice,” including a role in the 1990 musical “Gypsy.” Her most recent role was in 2016's “Our Mother's Brief Affair.”
Linda Lavin attends the Los Angeles premiere of Amazon Studios' Being the Ricardos held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 6, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Axel/Bauer Griffin/Film Magic)
Lavin continued to work until his death. In addition to her work on “No Good Deed,” she appeared on an episode of “Elsbeth” this year. Last year, she did voice work on an episode of “Bob's Burgers.”
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She is survived by her husband, Steve Bakunas;
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
