Linda Lavin’s final role is also one of her most Jewish
Lavin, who died last December at 87, plays a grandmother in 'One Big Happy Family'
Lavin, who died last December at 87, plays a grandmother in 'One Big Happy Family'
Let us stipulate, to begin, that Linda Lavin is excellent at playing a Jewish mother of a certain age. In fact, she is better than excellent; she is extraordinary, perfect, brilliant, perhaps the ideal, especially when that Jewish mother is wry, self-assured, precise, prickly — and when isn’t a Jewish mother (or at least a…
For most people, Linda Lavin will always be Alice from the TV show of the same name: a widowed, would-be singer who found a home and family at Mel’s Diner. But she’s more than a one-hit wonder — even if that hit ran for nine seasons. Lavin is also an accomplished jazz singer who performs…
100% of profits support our journalism