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Dec 30 2024
Linda Lavin Has Died @ 87 — Just A Few Weeks After Her Last Red Carpet Comments (0)

Alice-linda-lavin-boycultureLavin with her late TV son, Philip McKeon, who died at 55 in 2019 (Image via CBS)

Such awful news — the great and seemingly indefatigable Linda Lavin has died at 87. Her passing was unexpected, and came shortly after it was discovered she had lung cancer.



Lavin is currently on No Good Deed and will be seen on the highly anticipated Mid-Century Modern, pitched as a gay Golden Girls, in 2025.

She was — of course — a TV icon for her Emmy-nominated, Golden Globe-winning work as the star of  Alice (1976-1985), and was also memorable on Barney Miller (1975-1976). Shocking that she never secured an Emmy for Alice, a smart, realistic sitcom (hard to remember what sitcoms were like prior to the hyper-real and/or mockumentary approaches that have been in favor the past 15+ years) that tackled tough issues with an airy aplomb.


She sang the theme song of Alice, a nod to her roots as a Broadway star, including in It’s a Bird... It’s a Plane... It’s Superman (1966), The Mad Show (1966) in which she sang the unforgettable “The Boy from ...”, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1967), Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969), her Tony-winning turn in Broadway Bound (1986), Gypsy (1990), The Sisters Rosensweig (1993), The Diary of Anne Frank (1998), The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (2000), Collected Stories (2010), Follies (2011), The Lyons (2011-2012) and You Will Get Sick (2022) — among many more.

In all, she racked up six Tony noms and one win.

Other TV: Room for Two (1992-1993), Conrad Bloom (1998), Courage the Cowardly Dog (voice; 2002), Sean Saves the World (2013-2014), The Good Wife (2014-2015), 9JKL (2017-2018), Santa Clarita Diet (2019), Yvette Slosch, Agent (2020) and B Positive (2020-2022).

I was so honored to see one of Lavin’s shows 10 years ago, and to get a photo with her. She was a true star, and despite her age, her being gone is a shocker.

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