Louise Lasser

Louise Lasser
Lasser as Mary Hartman in 1976
Born	(1939-04-11) April 11, 1939 New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Brandeis University
Occupations	Actress television writer teacher director
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Woody Allen ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1970)​

Louise Lasser (born April 11, 1939) 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). 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.

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Lasser is the only child of Paula Lasser (née Cohen) and Sol Jay Lasser. 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. 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. Sol Jay Lasser later also committed suicide.

Lasser studied political science at Brandeis University for three years.

Career

1962–1975: Collaborations with Woody Allen

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. 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.'" 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."

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

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

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, 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."

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." 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.

Saturday Night Live host

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. 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."

Lasser denies that she was ever forbidden to come back. 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. 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. 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," 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. 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." 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). 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.

1983–present: Later roles

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).

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). She has been a faculty member of HB Studio, where she taught acting technique. In 2014, she directed the Off-Off-Broadway production of Ira Lewis' Chinese Coffee. In 2021, she was reunited with her Mary Hartman co-star Greg Mullavey in a 16-minute film short called Bliss. 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".

Personal life

Marriage

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

1976 legal incident

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. A fictionalized version of the dollhouse incident was also incorporated into Mary Hartman's first season.

Legacy and influence

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman offers "Kitchen Sink Theater of the Absurd" 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.

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." 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.

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

Filmography

Film

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

Television

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

Theatre

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
1967	Henry, Sweet Henry	Stella	Palace Theatre, Broadway
1970	The Chinese	Gladys Hoffman	Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
1974	Thieves	Nancy (replacement)	Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway

Awards and recognition

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.

External links

• Louise Lasser at IMDb 
• Louise Lasser at the TCM Movie Database
• Louise Lasser at the Internet Broadway Database
• Louise Lasser at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Louise Lasser at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Official website