An iconic sitcom star from the 1970s was unrecognizable when she surfaced in Los Angeles this week at the age of 86.
Born in Maine, she initially pursued a successful career on Broadway before striking out to Hollywood to make it on television.
She became a small screen sensation on the TV comedy Alice, which was based on the Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Once the show was over, she returned to the New York stage, winning a Tony Award for the beloved Neil Simon play Broadway Bound.
When she stepped out in California this week, she cut a spry and sprightly figure, wearing a stylish floral blouse with trousers that featured high slits.
WHO IS SHE?
She is Linda Lavin, who played the title character on the smash hit CBS sitcom Alice for nine seasons from 1976 until 1985.
The television program was an adaptation of the 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Ellen Burstyn starred in the movie as a new widow with a young son who moves to Arizona and starts working at a diner.
She ultimately strikes up a romantic connection with one of the restaurant’s young patrons, played by rock star turned actor Kris Kristofferson.
Alice, the sitcom adaptation, ran more than 200 episodes, with Linda playing the title role amid a cast that included Philip McKeon as her son Tommy.
Born to a Russian Jewish family in Portland, Maine, Linda enjoyed the benefits of a musical background, as her mother was an opera singer.
She began her career on the New York stage, featuring in such Broadway shows It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman in 1968.
