NEW YORK (AP) — Linda Lavin, the Tony Award-winning stage actor who became a television icon as waitress Alice Hyatt, died Sunday in Los Angeles from complications of lung cancer. She was 87.
Lavin’s portrayal of a widowed mother waiting tables at Mel’s Diner on CBS’s “Alice” (1976-1985) established her as a role model for working mothers. The series, based on Martin Scorsese’s film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” became a top-10 hit and popularized the catchphrase “Kiss my grits.”
Her stage career brought five Tony nominations and a win for Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound” in 1987. She remained active until her death, recently working on Netflix’s “No Good Deed” and Hulu’s “Mid-Century Modern.”
Starting in nightclubs after graduating from the College of William and Mary, Lavin built a versatile career spanning six decades. Critics praised her nuanced performances, particularly in “Collected Stories” and “The Lyons.”
In 2007, she and her third husband, Steve Bakunas, founded the Red Barn Studio Theatre in Wilmington, North Carolina, producing challenging works like “Doubt” and “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
“Work brings work,” she advised young actors in 2011. “As long as it wasn’t morally reprehensible to me, I did it.”
Her film appearances included “Wanderlust” with Jennifer Aniston and “The Back-Up Plan” with Jennifer Lopez. She also released an album, “Possibilities,” and continued working in television with roles on “Sean Saves the World,” “Mom,” and “9JKL.”
