Join Playbill On-Line's Andrew McGibbon on Monday evening, February 2, 1998 when he is joined in the Playbill On-Line chat room by Tony and Emmy Award winning actress Linda Lavin. She is currently dazzling Broadway audiences and garnering rave reviews for her performance as Mrs. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank.
Ms. Lavin is most notably remembered for her portrayal of the title character in the the hit television series Alice ,one of the most popular half hour comedies ever produced on television. For her role as a single working mother, Lavin was honored with 2 Golden Globe Awards. Her recent television movies include For the Future: The Irvine Fertility Scandal (CBS - 1996), The Ring (NBC miniseries - 1997), the Hallmark Film Best Friends For Life (CBS - 1998) and the stirring Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden (1996 to present) produced by her production company, Lavin Entertainment for the Family Channel.
In the fall of 1997, Ms. Lavin stared as Lillian Hellman in the off Broadway production of Cakewalk. Other recent stage appearances included the off-Broadway smash Death Defying Acts (1996) which earned her an Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards, Dr. Gorgeous in Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig (1994), the title role of Mama Rose in the widely successful revival of Gypsy (1989) and matriarch Kate Jerome in Broadway Bound (1986) where she was honored with a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle and Helen Hayes Award.
Lavin began her Broadway career in the original cast of Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1966). Other early performances include It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman (1965) and The Mad Show (1965).
Ms. Lavin produced and starred in the ABC (1991-1992) comedy series Room For Two and the musical variety special Lavin in Wonderland, which received two Emmy Awards. Additional producer/director credits include The Sunset Gang (American Playhouse - 1990), a miniseries focusing on Florida's aging community and Flour Babies, a (network) after-school special dealing with teenage pregnancy. Both shows received Emmy Awards. Her film credits include See You In the Morning with Jeff Bridges, Jim Henson's The Muppets Take Manhattan, and the Alan Resnais film I want to Go Home.
Ms. Lavin is also active with the Anti-Defamation League, the National Commission on Working Women, and others. She commits herself to working and speaking out on women's political, economic, and health care causes.
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