FORCE OF NATURE

Golden Globe-Winning Sitcom Legend Dies Unexpectedly

She was in the middle of filming and promoting major TV projects when she died unexpectedly.

Linda Lavin, the iconic star of the groundbreaking 1976 sitcom Alice, has died unexpectedly at age 87.

The beloved actor, who won multiple Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award over her long and prolific career, was in the middle of promoting the Netflix series No Good Deed and filming the Hulu show Mid-Century Modern when she died from complications due to lung cancer.

The illness had only recently been diagnosed, her representatives told Deadline.

A gifted comedic actor, by the 1970s, Lavin was already a veteran stage actor who had been nominated for a Tony Award. In 1975, she landed a memorable recurring part on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller, which led to a starring turn at CBS as the titular Alice, a diner waitress and single mother trying to make it as a singer.

The show, which ran for nine seasons, earned Lavin two Golden Globe Awards and cemented her status as a working-class hero. Many fans have also praised the series for being ahead of its time. Earlier this year, Lavin posted a clip from an episode in the first season in which a hunky football star takes Alice out on a date before revealing he’s gay.

“Well, I don’t see why that should matter,” she says, her smile wilting as she processes the revelation that this gorgeous specimen of a blond 1970s mustache will never be hers.

“Proud of this groundbreaking episode,” Lavin wrote in June. “Happy pride!”

After Alice, Lavin worked steadily in television. Over the last decade, she had appeared as a series regular on CBS, NBC and Netflix comedies. Starting in 1967, she also acted in feature films including Damn Yankees!, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Intern and Being the Ricardos. And she continued performing on Broadway, with her most recent Tony nomination coming in 2012 for The Lyons.

On Dec. 4, Lavin walked her final red carpet for No Good Deed, starring Lisa Kudrow, Ray Romano and Linda Cardellini. Just two weeks ago, she and her husband of 19 years, musician Steve Bakunas, attended actor Sarah Paulson’s 50th birthday party at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.

Tributes quickly poured in following news of Levin’s death, with friends and collaborators praising her warmth, kindness and comedic prowess.

“You were, as always, incredibly gracious, totally hilarious and pitch perfect,” No Good Deed creator Liz Feldman wrote on Instagram. “Ready to play and full of life… Thank you for letting me into your stunning orbit. And for allowing me to spin with you for a while.”

Levin is survived by Bakunas, whom Deadline described as the “love of her life.”

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Janna Brancolini

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