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Louise Lasser

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Louise Lasser
Lasser as Mary Hartman in 1976
Born
Louise Marie Lasser

(1939-04-11) April 11, 1939 (age 85)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materBrandeis University
Occupations
  • Actress
  • television writer
  • teacher
  • director
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1966; div. 1970)​

Louise Marie Lasser (born April 11, 1939)[1] 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. She was married to Woody Allen and appeared in several of his early films.[2] She is also a life member of The Actors Studio and studied with both Sanford Meisner and Robert X. Modica.[3]

Early life and career beginnings

Born in New York City, Lasser is the only child of Paula Lasser (née Cohen) and Sol Jay Lasser.[4] 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.[5]

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.[5] Sol Jay Lasser later also committed suicide.[2]

Lasser studied political science at Brandeis University for three years.[6] She sang 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.[4] She also acted on the soap opera The Doctors and in television commercials.

Lasser married Woody Allen in 1966. Although the couple divorced in 1970, she appeared in his films 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.'"[6]

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.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

Lasser with costar Greg Mullavey in a 1976 press photo for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

Production

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,[7] 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."[8]

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."[7]

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.[9]

The dollhouse 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.[10] A fictionalized version of the dollhouse incident was also incorporated into Mary Hartman's first season.

Legacy

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman offers "Kitchen Sink Theater of the Absurd"[10] 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.[11]

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."[12] 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.[13]

In 2004 and 2007, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was ranked No. 21 and No. 26 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.[14]

SNL appearance and controversy

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.[15] 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".[16]

Lasser denies that she was ever forbidden from coming back.[5] 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.[17]

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.[5] 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".[5] 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.[18]

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."[5]

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman producer Norman Lear and co-star Mary Kay Place also hosted SNL during the run of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

Other roles and appearances

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).[3]

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.[19]

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).[3]

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).[11]

In 2021, she was reunited with her Mary Hartman co-star Greg Mullavey in a 16-minute film short called Bliss.[20][21]

In 2022, she appeared in Funny Pages, her first role in a theatrical feature film in almost 20 years.

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.[3]

Directing career

She has been a faculty member of HB Studio, where she taught acting technique.[22]

In 2014, she directed the Off-Off-Broadway production of Ira Lewis' Chinese Coffee.[23]

Currently, she lives in Manhattan and runs the Louise Lasser Acting Studio on the Upper East Side.[3]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1962 The Laughmakers TV film
1965 The Doctors Jackie Ricardo Episode: #1.546 - May 3, 1965
1966 What's Up, Tiger Lily? Suki Yaki Partial writing credit, Voice
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
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
Slither Mary Fenaka
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 out of 325 episodes
1976 Saturday Night Live Guest host Season 1, Episode 23: Louise Lasser, Preservation Hall Jazz Band - July 24, 1976
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
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
1984 Bedrooms Betty / Loretta TV film
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
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
2018 Did You Know My Husband? TV film
2021 Bliss Short film with Greg Mullavey
2022 Funny Pages Linda (Pharmacy Lady)

References

  1. ^ Famous Birthdays Today, United States. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Louise Lasser". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Louise Lasser Acting Studio". lasseractingstudio. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Madden, Joanne. "Whatever happened to Louise Lasser?". Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barliant, Claire (December 20, 2013). "An Interview With Louise Lasser: TV, Depression, and SNL". The Toast. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Wilson, John M. (February 22, 1976). "Louise Lasser! Louise Lasser!". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Louise Lasser". People. Vol. 42, no. 22. November 28, 1994.
  8. ^ Lear, Norman (October 14, 2014). Even This I Get to Experience. Penguin. p. 293. ISBN 978-1101635384.
  9. ^ "Review: Shout! Factory releases 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' on DVD (Includes first-hand account)". digitaljournal.com. November 23, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  10. ^ a b "No Laughing Matter". People. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "The Real Housewife: Louise Lasser". Interview Magazine. December 6, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  12. ^ "From a Waxy Yellow Buildup to a Nervous Breakdown: The Fleeting Existence of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". East of Borneo. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  13. ^ "Museum of Television & Radio Seminar Series: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Reunion, Reunion (Long Version)". paleycenter.org. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  14. ^ "TV Guide's 25 Top Cult Shows – TannerWorld Junction". January 4, 2009. Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  15. ^ "Maybe they win because of the 'tux'". Los Angeles Times. March 25, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  16. ^ Hill, Doug; Weingrad, Jeff (December 15, 2011). Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Untreed Reads. ISBN 978-1-61187-218-7.
  17. ^ Lifton, Dave (July 24, 2019). "How Louise Lasser Got Banned From 'Saturday Night Live'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "Saturday Night Live (Classic): "Louise Lasser/Kris Kristofferson"". TV Club. October 27, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  19. ^ Dizon, Bettina (November 1, 2019). "Lives of 'It's a Living' Cast Members Three Decades after the Show Ended". news.amomama.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  20. ^ "Bliss short film". Vampingo Productions. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  21. ^ "NEWPORT BEACH FILM FEST". nbff2021.eventive.org. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  22. ^ "Local-Express | Queens Gazette". qgazette.com. September 10, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  23. ^ "Stage and Cinema Review: CHINESE COFFEE (with Austin Pendleton, directed by Louise Lasser, at the Roy Arias Stage II Theater, Off-Broadway in New York)". stageandcinema.com. September 28, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
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