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BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that stage and screen performer Louise Lasser has passed away at the age of 87. The news was confirmed by her best friend, Susan Charlotte, who told The Hollywood Reporter that Lasser died at her Manhattan home of natural causes on Monday, July 6.
Best known for playing the Emmy-nominated title role in the TV series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lasser began her career as a New York stage actress, appearing on Broadway in I Can Get It For You Wholesale, Henry, Sweet Henry, The Chinese, and Thieves.
In the 1960s and 70s, she frequently worked with Woody Allen (to whom she was also married for a time) in the film projects Bananas, Take the Money and Run, and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex… She also wrote and starred in a 1978 movie commissioned by NBC, Just Me and You, and later reunited with Allen for his 1980 film, Stardust Memories.
Lasser’s other New York stage credits include the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Wallace Shawn’s Marie and Bruce, followed by A Couple of White Chicks Sitting Around Talking. She also made numerous guest appearances on TV, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, hosting Saturday Night Live, playing Judd Hirsch’s ex-wife on Taxi and a CBS presentation of Ingmar Bergman’s The Lie.
Ms. Lasser’s later film work included the critically acclaimed Happiness, Mystery Men, Requiem for a Dream, Fast Food, Fast Women, and National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers. Ms. Lasser was the first actress to win a Clio award; she garnered an Emmy nomination for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and the National Board of Review’s Award for Best Ensemble Cast for Happiness.
She was introduced to a new audience of viewers in a recurring role in Lena Dunham’s Girls, appearing in three episodes of the hit series. In 2014, she directed an off-Broadway production of Ira Lewis’ Chinese Coffee at the Roy Arias Stage II Theater, starring Austin Pendleton and Sean Walsh.
Her final onscreen credits was in the 2022 indie comedy, Funny Pages.
Louise Lasser on Mary Hartman’s nervous breakdown – TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews” width=”356″>
Photo Credit: Rose Billings
