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Louise Lasser

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Louise Jane Lasser
Lasser as Mary Hartman in 1976
BornApril 11, 1939 (age 85)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materBrandeis University
Occupations
  • Actress
  • television writer
  • teacher
  • director
Years active1962–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1966; div. 1970)​

Louise Lasser is an American actress, television writer, and performing arts teacher and director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, for which she was Primetime Emmy Award nominated.

She made her Broadway debut in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962). She was married to Woody Allen from 1966 until 1970 and acted in several of his early films including Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971).[1] She hosted Saturday Night Live in 1976 and took guest roles in The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Laverne and Shirley and St. Elsewhere.

Her later roles include black comedy films such as Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998) and Owen Kline's Funny Pages (2022). She portrayed Beadie in the Lena Dunham-created HBO coming-of-age series Girls from 2013 to 2014.

She is also a life member of The Actors Studio and studied with both Sanford Meisner and Robert X. Modica.[2]

Early life and education

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Born in New York City, Lasser is the only child of Paula Lasser (née Cohen) and Sol Jay Lasser.[3] Her father wrote and published the Everyone's Income Tax Guide series in the 1970s and 1980s. Louise did not fully embrace her Jewish heritage until later in life.[4] Her mother's emotional instability led to a 1961 suicide attempt that was thwarted by Louise herself. Her mother vowed to never forgive Lasser for her actions, and after divorcing her husband, finally took her own life in 1964.[4] Sol Jay Lasser later also committed suicide.[1]

Lasser studied political science at Brandeis University for three years.[5]

Career

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1962–1975: Collaborations with Woody Allen

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Lasser was married to Woody Allen and acted in several of his films

She began her career acting in Greenwich Village coffee shops and bars and performed in improvisational revues before understudying Barbra Streisand as "Miss Marmelstein" in the Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale.[3] She also acted on the soap opera The Doctors and in television commercials. She acted in numerous Woody Allen films including his early slapstick comedies Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972). She also served as a voice actor for Allen's 1966 spoof dubbing of the Japanese comedy spy movie Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (International Secret Police: Key of Keys), retitled What's Up Tiger Lily? Lasser cites Allen as "a tremendous influence -- but it's the influence to make me be me....I remember the day he said, 'I do jokes...your comedy is attitude.'"[5] In 2013 when speaking to Interview she said "I love his work. That relationship was a very influential relationship, on every level. It’s interesting to see that. I’ll forever be influenced by his work. A lot of my best work comes from his work. Some meaning and some not even meaning to."[6]

Her other 1970s comedic turns in cinema include Such Good Friends (1971) and Slither (1973). On television, she earned credits on Love, American Style (1971), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973). She also appeared in the 1973 TV-movie version of Ingmar Bergman's The Lie and was featured as Elaine in an episode of the NBC romantic anthology series Love Story.

1976–1982: Breakthrough and other roles

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Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

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Lasser with costar Greg Mullavey in a 1976 press photo for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

Lasser's breakthrough role came as the unhappy, neurotic titular character in the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which aired five nights a week for two seasons from January 1976 until July 1977. Some markets aired it at different times of the day and night and also in a block format which showcased all the week's episodes in a row. During the program's run, Lasser became a household name and appeared on the covers of Newsweek, People,[7] and Rolling Stone. In his biography, producer Norman Lear said that the casting of Lasser took less than a minute after Charles H. Joffe told him that there was only one actress to play the part of Mary Hartman. Lasser initially refused the role but later acquiesced. Lear says that "when she read a bit of the script for me, I all but cried for joy ... Louise brought with her the persona that fit Mary Hartman like a corset."[8]

Of her brief yet memorable time on the series, Lasser surmises: "I could go into anyone's kitchen in America and have dinner. It was the best and worst of times."[7] Exhausted from the grueling schedule demands, Lasser left the series after two seasons and 325 episodes. The serial was rebranded Forever Fernwood, which centered on the lives of the other Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman characters and lasted for 26 more weeks. In an interview for the bonus features of the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman DVD box set from Shout! Factory, Lasser reveals that the idea for Mary's nervous breakdown at the end of the first season came after she wrote a 12-page letter suggesting the idea to Norman Lear.[9]

Saturday Night Live host

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On July 24, 1976, Lasser hosted the penultimate episode of Saturday Night Live's first season. Her performance is best known for her opening monologue in which she re-creates a Mary Hartman-esque nervous breakdown and locks herself in her dressing room. She is then coaxed out by Chevy Chase/Land Shark and the promise of appearing on the cover of Time. Some reports claim that Lasser's erratic behavior on the show led to her being the first person banned from SNL.[10] Chase accused her of "solipsism", and SNL writer Michael O'Donoghue called her "clinically berserk" and allegedly walked off that week's installment in disgust. O'Donoghue did concede that Lasser "was a nice woman going through a few problems, but I wanted to force her to eat her goddamn pigtails at gunpoint."[11]

Lasser denies that she was ever forbidden to come back.[4] According to Lasser, she was initially told she would be able to write her own material, but that promise was later reneged on, and she also refused to do sketches she deemed "salacious"; one in particular featured Lasser and Gilda Radner as teenagers talking about male genitalia. Ultimately, Jane Curtin appeared in the sketch with Radner instead.[12] Lasser also asserts that her SNL antics, which include stream-of-consciousness rambling (typical of her Mary Hartman character), were "on purpose" and that Lorne Michaels pulled repeats of the broadcast only at her manager's request because her manager was not fond of the whole affair, including the final segment in which the actress sat onstage to discuss her rise to fame and the dollhouse incident.[4] Lasser mostly performs by herself on the program but also appears in a vignette with a dog at a table.

Lasser called Chase "like-a-bully mean" but Radner "a doll,"[4] but aside from the intro segment in which Radner and Dan Aykroyd knock on her changing room door, Chase was the only regular player with whom Lasser had any scenes. Lasser and Chase appear as lovers in an Ingmar Bergman parody; plus, the pair filmed a sequence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention (although the footage was never aired). Instead, there is a video short in a diner in which she and her partner, played by Alan Zweibel, try to break up but forget their lines; in the end, Lasser moves to the bar and sits next to Michael Sarrazin. Lorne Michaels also briefly shows up in the clip, which ends with "a film by Louise Lasser" credit.[13] According to Lasser, "For me to threaten to walk off the show, I would never do that for spite. Banned—that's a horrible thing to have said."[4] Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman producer Norman Lear and co-star Mary Kay Place also hosted SNL during the run of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Following her departure from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lasser wrote a made-for-TV movie titled Just Me and You (1978) and starred in it with Charles Grodin. Her post-Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman stage credits include A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking and Marie and Bruce (1980).[2] She had a recurring role as Alex's ex-wife on the hit series Taxi and starred in the 1981–82 season of It's a Living, in which she played waitress Maggie McBurney.[14]

1983–present: Later roles

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Lasser had a recurring role on St. Elsewhere in the mid-1980s as Victor Ehrlich's Aunt Charise, a neurotic comic character. Her 1980s film appearances included Stardust Memories (1980), In God We Tru$t (1980), Crimewave (1985), Blood Rage (1987), Surrender (1987), Rude Awakening (1989) and as the mother of the main character in Sing (1989).[2]

Her 1990s films included Frankenhooker (1990), The Night We Never Met (1993), Sudden Manhattan (1996), Layin' Low (1996) and as the mother of the three main female characters in Todd Solondz's film Happiness (1998). She appeared in Mystery Men (1999) as the mother of Hank Azaria's character. She also had roles in Darren Aronofsky's film Requiem for a Dream (2000), the romantic comedy Fast Food Fast Women (2000) and co-starred with Renée Taylor in National Lampoon's Gold Diggers (2003).

Lasser acted in two episodes of HBO's Girls as a Manhattan artist for the series' third season (2014).[15] She has been a faculty member of HB Studio, where she taught acting technique.[16] In 2014, she directed the Off-Off-Broadway production of Ira Lewis' Chinese Coffee.[17] In 2021, she was reunited with her Mary Hartman co-star Greg Mullavey in a 16-minute film short called Bliss.[18][19] In 2022, she appeared in Funny Pages, her first role in a theatrical feature film in almost 20 years. Chris Feil of The Daily Beast wrote, "Louise Lasser makes for what is surely the most hilariously bizarre, yet downright frightening one-scene-wonder".[20]

Personal life

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Marriage

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Lasser married Woody Allen in 1966. Although the couple divorced in 1970, she appeared in five of his films from 1966 to 1980.[21] She said of working with Allen, "I think he's very talented, and really funny, and really serious".[22] She currently lives in Manhattan and runs the Louise Lasser Acting Studio on the Upper East Side.[2]

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In the spring of 1976 in Los Angeles, Lasser was arrested at a charity boutique, and police found $6 worth (or 88 milligrams) of cocaine in her purse. Authorities were called after Lasser's American Express card was denied and Lasser refused to leave without possession of a $150 dollhouse. Lasser was initially apprehended for two unpaid traffic tickets (one for jaywalking), but the officers then found the drug in her handbag. Lasser claimed the coke had been given to her several months earlier by a fan. Ultimately, Lasser was ordered to do six months in counseling, which was easily satisfied because she was already seeing an analyst.[23] A fictionalized version of the dollhouse incident was also incorporated into Mary Hartman's first season.

Legacy and influence

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Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman offers "Kitchen Sink Theater of the Absurd"[23] featuring a Candide-esque TV-watching housewife who, in one signature episode, brings a sick neighbor a bowl of chicken soup, only to have him fall asleep and drown in it. "I have actually taken a human life with my chicken soup," Mary laments. While some called the production ahead of its time, Lasser has pointed out that this post-Watergate, existential satirical comedy-drama also reflects its time period perfectly.[15]

As author Claire Barliant writes: "For some, the 1970s...was a descent into chaos, a dissolution of self, but also a kind of awakening....The Seventies' nervous breakdown coincides with women's lib and a strengthening gay rights movement....[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman] is relevant today because it entertains but still shocks, because the social commentary and satire and bravery of the show are as fresh as ever."[24] Moreover, Lasser as the series' figurehead aptly embodies both the insanity and enlightenment of the epoch.

In 2000, Lasser appeared on a panel with her former Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman cast and crew members at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. The seminar, entitled Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Reunion, Reunion, was moderated by Steven A. Bell and taped for the museum archives.[25]

In 2004 and 2007, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was ranked No. 21 and No. 26 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.[26]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1966 What's Up, Tiger Lily? Suki Yaki Voice; also writing credit [27]
1969 Take the Money and Run Kay Lewis [27]
1971 Bananas Nancy [27]
Such Good Friends Marcy [27]
1972 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) Gina [27]
1973 Slither Mary Fenaka [27]
1978 Just Me and You Jane Alofsin Also writer, TV film [27]
1980 Simon Doris Uncredited, Voice [27]
Stardust Memories Sandy's Secretary Uncredited [27]
In God We Trust (Or Gimme That Prime Time Religion) Mary [27]
1985 Crimewave Helene Trend [27]
1987 Blood Rage (aka Nightmare at Shadow Woods) Maddy [27]
Surrender Joyce [27]
1989 Sing Rosie [27]
Rude Awakening Ronnie Summers [27]
1996 Layin' Low Mrs. Muckler [27]
Sudden Manhattan Dominga [27]
1998 Happiness Mona Jordan [27]
1999 Mystery Men Blue Raja's Mother [27]
2000 Requiem for a Dream Ada [27]
Fast Food Fast Women Emily [27]
2001 Queenie in Love Martha [27]
2002 Wolves of Wall Street Landlady [27]
2003 National Lampoon's Gold Diggers Doris Mundt [27]
2008 Broadway Bound Dorthy Palmer Short film [28]
2010 Horses Eat Each Other Irma Short film [28]
2012 Driving Me Crazy: Proof of Concept Shelly Petterson [28]
2021 Bliss Short film [28]
2022 Funny Pages Linda (Pharmacy Lady) [28]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1962 The Laughmakers Susan TV film [28]
1963–1971 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Herself 8 episodes [28]
1965 The Doctors Jackie Ricardo Episode: "#1.546 - May 3, 1965" [28]
1971–1973 The Mike Douglas Show Herself 3 episodes [28]
1972 The Bob Newhart Show Mrs. Radford Episode: "P-I-L-O-T" [28]
Class of '55 Christine TV film [28]
1973 The Mary Tyler Moore Show Anne Adams Episode: "Mary Richards and the Incredible Plant Lady" [28]
Coffee, Tea or Me? Susan Edmonds TV film [28]
Isn't It Shocking? Blanche TV film [28]
Love Story Elaine Kaplan Episode: "The Roller Coaster Stops Here" [28]
1974 McCloud Sgt. Maggie Philbin Episode: "A Cowboy in Paradise" [28]
Moe and Joe Mo Lambert TV film [28]
1975 Medical Center Esther Kornblum Episode: "The Price of a Child" [28]
1976–1977 Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Mary Shumway Hartman 315 episodes [28]
1976 Saturday Night Live Guest host Episode: "Louise Lasser / Preservation Hall Jazz Band" [28]
1980–1982 Taxi Phyllis Bornstein Consuelos
Phyllis Reiger		 3 Episodes [28]
1981 For Ladies Only Beth Doyle TV film [28]
1981–1982 It's a Living Maggie McBurney 14 Episodes [28]
1983 Laverne & Shirley Sister Margaret Episode: "The Monastery Show" [28]
1983 Late Night with David Letterman Herself Episode: "Edwin Newman / Louise Lasser" [28]
1984 Bedrooms Betty / Loretta TV film [28]
1984 St. Elsewhere Aunt Charise 2 episodes [28]
1992 Empty Nest Louise Polsky Episode: "Good Neighbor Harry" [28]
2011 Woody Allen: A Documentary Herself American Masters documentary [28]
2014–2015 Girls Beadie 3 episodes [28]
2018 Did You Know My Husband? TV film [28]

Theatre

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Year Title Role Venue Ref.
1962 I Can Get It For You Wholesale Rosaline (replacement)
Miss Marmelstein (u/s & replacement)		 Sam S. Shubert Theatre, Broadway [29]
1967 Henry, Sweet Henry Stella Palace Theatre, Broadway [30]
1970 The Chinese Gladys Hoffman Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway [31]
1974 Thieves Nancy (replacement) Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway [32]

Awards and recognition

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In 1967, Lasser became the first woman to win a Clio Award for Best Actress in a Commercial. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble for her participation in the film Happiness.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Louise Lasser". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Louise Lasser Acting Studio". lasseractingstudio. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Madden, Joanne. "Whatever happened to Louise Lasser?". Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barliant, Claire (December 20, 2013). "An Interview With Louise Lasser: TV, Depression, and SNL". The Toast. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Wilson, John M. (February 22, 1976). "Louise Lasser! Louise Lasser!". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  6. ^ "The Real Housewife: Louise Lasser". Interview. December 6, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Louise Lasser". People. Vol. 42, no. 22. November 28, 1994.
  8. ^ Lear, Norman (October 14, 2014). Even This I Get to Experience. Penguin. p. 293. ISBN 978-1101635384.
  9. ^ "Review: Shout! Factory releases 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' on DVD (Includes first-hand account)". digitaljournal.com. November 23, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "Maybe they win because of the 'tux'". Los Angeles Times. March 25, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  11. ^ Hill, Doug; Weingrad, Jeff (December 15, 2011). Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Untreed Reads. ISBN 978-1-61187-218-7.
  12. ^ Lifton, Dave (July 24, 2019). "How Louise Lasser Got Banned From 'Saturday Night Live'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  13. ^ "Saturday Night Live (Classic): "Louise Lasser/Kris Kristofferson"". TV Club. October 27, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  14. ^ Dizon, Bettina (November 1, 2019). "Lives of 'It's a Living' Cast Members Three Decades after the Show Ended". news.amomama.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "The Real Housewife: Louise Lasser". Interview Magazine. December 6, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  16. ^ "Local-Express | Queens Gazette". qgazette.com. September 10, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  17. ^ "Stage and Cinema Review: CHINESE COFFEE (with Austin Pendleton, directed by Louise Lasser, at the Roy Arias Stage II Theater, Off-Broadway in New York)". stageandcinema.com. September 28, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "Bliss short film". Vampingo Productions. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  19. ^ "NEWPORT BEACH FILM FEST". nbff2021.eventive.org. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  20. ^ Feil, Chris (August 26, 2022). "'Funny Pages' Has the Wildest Acting of the Summer". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  21. ^ Wilson, John M. (February 22, 1976). "Louise Lasser! Louise Lasser!". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  22. ^ "Louise Lasser on Woody Allen". Television Academy. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  23. ^ a b "No Laughing Matter". People. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  24. ^ "From a Waxy Yellow Buildup to a Nervous Breakdown: The Fleeting Existence of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". East of Borneo. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  25. ^ "Museum of Television & Radio Seminar Series: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Reunion, Reunion (Long Version)". paleycenter.org. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  26. ^ "TV Guide's 25 Top Cult Shows – TannerWorld Junction". January 4, 2009. Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Louise Lasser - Turner Classic Movies". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae "Louise Lasser". IMDb. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  29. ^ "I Can Get It For You Wholesale (Broadway, 1962)". Playbill. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  30. ^ "Henry, Sweet Henry (Broadway, 1967)". Playbill. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  31. ^ "The Chinese (Broadway, 1970)". Playbill. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  32. ^ "Thieves (Broadway, 1974)". Playbill. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
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