Carol Kane

Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane (born June 18, 1952)^[1] is an American stage, screen and television actress. She became known in the 1970s in films such as Hester Street (for which she received an Academy Award nomination) and Annie Hall. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of Latka, the character played by Andy Kaufman, winning two Emmy Awards for her work. She has played the character of Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked, both in regional productions and on Broadway from 2005 to 2014.

Early life

Kane was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Joy, a jazz singer, teacher, dancer, and pianist, and Michael Kane, an architect who worked for the World Bank.^[2] Her family is Jewish, and her grandparents emigrated from Russia.^[3] Her parents divorced when she was 12 years old.^[4] She attended the Cherry Lawn School, a progressive boarding school in Darien, Connecticut, until 1965.^[5][6] She attended the Professional Children's School, in New York City, and made her professional theatre debut in a 1966 production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Tammy Grimes.^[7]

Career

Television

Kane portrayed Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, wife of Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman), on the American television series Taxi, from 1981 to 1983. Kane earned two Emmy Awards for her work in the series.^[8]

Kane was a regular on the 1986 NBC series All Is Forgiven, a regular on the 1990–91 NBC series American Dreamer, guest-starred on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld and had a supporting role in the short-lived 1996–97 sitcom Pearl, which starred Rhea Perlman.

Carol Kane also appeared in an episode of Tales From the Crypt called "Judy, You're Not Yourself Today".

She also appeared in the NBC television live action production of The Year Without a Santa Claus in December 2006.

In January 2009, Kane appeared in the TV series Two and a Half Men as the mother of Alan Harper's receptionist.^[9]

In March 2010, Kane appeared in the TV series Ugly Betty as Justin Suarez's acting teacher. Then, in 2014, Kane had a recurring role in the TV series Gotham as Gertrude Kapelput, Oswald Cobblepot's (Penguin's) mother.^[10] In 2015, she was cast as Lillian, the landlord to the title character, on the Netflix original series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.^[11]

Movies

She also appeared in The Last Detail (1973), "Norman Loves Rose" (1982), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Princess Bride (1987) "Flashback" (1989) with Dennis Hopper, and Scrooged (1988), in which Variety called her "unquestionably [the] pic's comic highlight."^[12]

In 1998, she played Mother Duck on the cartoon movie The First Snow of Winter. In 1999 she did a cameo on the movie Man On The Moon as her character she played on Taxi (TV series)

Kane was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Hester Street.

Theater

She starred in the off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore in February 2010.^[13]

Kane made her West End debut in January 2011 in a major revival of Lillian Hellman's drama The Children's Hour, at London's Comedy Theatre. She starred alongside Keira Knightley, Elisabeth Moss and Ellen Burstyn.^[14]

In May 2012, Kane appeared on Broadway as Betty Chumley in a revival of the play Harvey.

Wicked

Kane is known for her portrayal of the evil headmistress Madame Morrible in the Broadway musical Wicked, whom she played in various productions from 2005 to 2014.

Kane made her Wicked debut on the 1st National Tour, playing the role from March 9 through December 19, 2005. She then reprised the role in the Broadway production from January 10 through November 12, 2006. She again played the role for the Los Angeles production which began performances on February 7, 2007. She left the production on December 30, 2007, and later returned from August 26, 2008 until the production closed on January 11, 2009.

She then transferred with the L.A. company, to play the role once again, in the San Francisco production which began performances January 27, 2009.^[15] She ended her limited engagement on March 22, 2009.^[16] Kane returned to the Broadway company of Wicked from July 1, 2013 through February 22, 2014.^[17]

Filmography

Other works

• This is My Night (Music Video) (1985) – Mimi in Chaka Khan's music video
• Wicked (2005–2009; 2013–present) – Madame Morrible (Various productions)

References

External links

• Carol Kane at the Internet Movie Database
• Carol Kane at the Internet Broadway Database
• Carol Kane at the Internet Off-Broadway Database