Tall, high-energy nightclub chanteuse and actress who in the 1980s concentrated on a successful feature film and TV acting career. A little bit manic, sometimes sultry, typically frizzy-haired, Kazan received her big break, when, as Barbra Streisand's understudy in the Broadway musical "Funny Girl", she got to go on for one matinee and one evening performance. Her forceful singing and performing style received some notice, and within several years, Kazan had an album, a TV special, and several feature roles to her credit. She wasn't typical leading lady material and her films were largely unworthy of her; "Dayton's Devils" (1968), for instance, was distinguished largely by her rendition of "Sunny". For a number of years, she concentrated on her singing, and in the late 1970s, successfully opened cabarets, Lainie's Room and Lainie's Room East, in Los Angeles and New York, respectively.In 1980, Kazan began focusing on acting work. College classmate Francis Ford Coppola cast her in his unsuccessful "One from the Heart" (1982), but she had better luck as a classic Jewish mother in "My Favorite Year" (1982), a role she would dynamically reprise a decade later in the Lincoln Center stage musical version. A spirited camp, Kazan had little success with two tries at TV sitcom ("Tough Cookies" 1986, starring Robbie Benson; "Karen's Song" 1987, as Patty Duke's pal) but has done rather well as supportive chum and boisterous earth mother types in films ranging from the misfire Western spoof "Lust in the Dust" (1984) to the female bonding drama "Beaches" (1988), the Chuck Norris actioner "Delta Force" (1987) and the family comedies "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987) and "29th Street" (1991).
Kazan's career continued in that vein throughout the '90s with a succession of B-level movies and the occasional standout role, but in 2002 she appeared in the film that would likely define her late-life acting career, playing Nia Vardalos' food-pushing, marriage-minded, oh-so-traditional Greek mother Maria Portokalos in the unexpected smash hit comedy "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," a role that made the most of her comedic gifts playing pushy, domineering matriarchs who are nonetheless lovable and often wise. Kazan would reprise the role for the brief, troubled CBS sit-com spin-off "My Big Fat Greek Life" (2003) and appeared briefly as Ben Affleck's (you guessed it) mother in "Gigli" (2003).
Profession(s):
Actor, singer, nightclub owner
Sometimes Credited As:
Lainie Levine
1998 Was one of the producers of and performers in "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly", a benefit tribute to Ethel Merman
1998 Had supporting roles in "Permanent Midnight" and "The Big Hit"
1997 Had recurring role as Veronica's mother on the NBC sitcom "Veronica's Closet"
1995 Played the recurring role of Fran's Aunt Frieda on the CBS sitcom "The Nanny"
1992 Reprised her film role of Belle in the stage musical "My Favorite Year"
1988 Cast as Bette Midler's mother in "Beaches"
1987 Played Frieda Fiscus on several episodes of the NBC hospital drama, "St. Elsewhere"
1986 Played Rita on the short-lived CBS sitcom, "Tough Cookies"
1982 Returned to features after a decade-plus absence to act in Francis Ford Coppola's "One from the Heart"
1982 Appeared as Belle in "My Favorite Year"
1977 Opened Lainie's Room East in New York
1976 Opened Lainie's Room at the Los Angeles Playboy Club
1968 Made feature film debut in "Lady in Cement"
1968 Appeared in concert on the syndicated variety special, "The Lainie Kazan Show"
1968 Played first leading role in features in "Dayton's Devils"
1964 Understudied Barbra Streisand on Broadway in the musical comedy, "Funny Girl"; got to perform in one matinee and one evening performance
Made frequent appearances on "The Dean Martin Show"
