Film and television actress Louise Lasser died of natural causes at her New York City home on Monday at the age of 87.
Lasser was married to Woody Allen from 1966 to 1970, and the two collaborated on Allen’s rewrite of What’s Up Tiger Lily?, the 1969 comedy-crime film Take the Money and Run and 1972’s Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask. Lasser was Allen’s second wife—the comedian was previously married to Harlene Rosen, whom he wed when she was 17 and he was 20, but that marriage lasted only from 1956 to 1962.
Lasser’s biggest role was starring in Norman Lear‘s 1970s satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman where she portrayed a struggling Ohio housewife, poking fun of the daily life of the American housewife and the effects of consumerism.
In 1976, Lasser was nominated for an Emmy for her pigtailed and puffy-sleeved character in the sitcom that aired five nights a week for two seasons.
The same year, Lasser was charged with cocaine possession and ordered six months’ probation after police found 80 milligrams of the drug on her while she was shopping at an antiques store.
When she hosted Saturday Night Live two months later, viewers struggled to discern whether skits about drugs and breakdowns were scripted or if they were watching Lasser’s fall from grace in real time. The episode was often omitted from reruns of the show.
After Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lasser acted in Taxi and It’s a Living. She wrote and starred in the movie Just Me and You.
The actress also appeared in Simon, Rude Awakening, Modern Love, The Night We Never Met, Wolves of Wall Street, National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers, and in three episodes of HBO’s Girls.
In its obituary, The New York Times described Lasser as “somehow simultaneously neurotic and girlish.”
Lasser was the only child of her parents Sol Jay Lasser, a tax accountant and author, and Paula (Eisenreich) Lasser, a designer. She was born in 1939 in Manhattan, and grew up in the Bronx.
She attended Brandeis University but dropped out during her senior year to take acting lessons. She moved back in with her parents in Manhattan and appeared in television commercials for brands including NyQuil and Excedrin.
In 1967, Lasser was the first woman to win a Clio Award for her work in a Florida orange juice commercial, the advertising industry’s highest honor.
Five years prior, she also had a Broadway stint—while understudying for 20-year-old Barbra Streisand in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Lasser briefly took over the role when Streisand left.
She is survived by her longtime partner Michael Citriniti.
