Louise Lasser
Lasser as Mary Hartman in 1976
Born	(1939-04-11)April 11, 1939 (age 86) New York City, U.S.
Education	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 satireMary Hartman, Mary Hartman, for which she wasPrimetime Emmy Award nominated.

Lasser made herBroadway debut in the musicalI Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962).She was married toWoody Allen from 1966 until 1970 and acted in several of his early films includingTake the Money and Run (1969) andBananas (1971).^[1] She hostedSaturday Night Live in 1976 and took guest roles inThe Bob Newhart Show,The Mary Tyler Moore Show,Taxi,Laverne and Shirley andSt. Elsewhere.

Her later roles includeblack comedy films such asTodd Solondz'sHappiness (1998) andOwen Kline'sFunny Pages (2022). She portrayed Beadie in theLena Dunham-createdHBOcoming-of-age seriesGirls from 2013 to 2014.

Lasser is also a life member ofThe Actors Studio and studied with bothSanford Meisner and Robert X. Modica.^[2]

Born in New York City, Lasser is the only child of Paula Lasser (née Cohen) and Sol Jay Lasser.^[3] Her father wrote and published theEveryone's Income Tax Guide series in the 1970s and 1980s. Louise did not fully embrace herJewish heritage until later in life.^[4] 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.^[4] Sol Jay Lasser later also committed suicide.^[1]

Lasser studiedpolitical science atBrandeis University for three years.^[5]

She began her career acting inGreenwich Village coffee shops and bars and performed in improvisational revues before understudyingBarbra Streisand as "Miss Marmelstein" in the Broadway musicalI Can Get It for You Wholesale.^[3] She also acted on the soap operaThe Doctors and in television commercials. She acted in numerousWoody Allen films including his earlyslapstick comediesTake the Money and Run (1969),Bananas (1971), andEverything 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 movieKokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (International Secret Police: Key of Keys), retitledWhat'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.'"^[5] In 2013 when speaking toInterview 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."^[6]

Her other 1970s comedic turns in cinema includeSuch Good Friends (1971) andSlither (1973). On television, she earned credits onLove, American Style (1971),The Bob Newhart Show (1972), andThe Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973). She also appeared in the 1973 TV-movie version ofIngmar Bergman'sThe Lie and was featured as Elaine in an episode of the NBC romantic anthology seriesLove Story.

Lasser's breakthrough role came as the unhappy, neurotic titular character in thesoap operasatireMary 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 ofNewsweek,People,^[7] andRolling Stone. In his biography, producerNorman Lear said that the casting of Lasser took less than a minute afterCharles 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 rebrandedForever Fernwood, which centered on the lives of the otherMary Hartman, Mary Hartman characters and lasted for 26 more weeks. In an interview for the bonus features of theMary Hartman, Mary Hartman DVD box set fromShout! 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]

On July 24, 1976, Lasser hosted the penultimate episode ofSaturday 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 byChevy Chase/Land Shark and the promise of appearing on the cover ofTime. Some reports claim that Lasser's erratic behavior on the show led to her being the first person banned fromSNL.^[10] Chase accused her of "solipsism", and SNL writerMichael 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."^[11]

Lasser denies that she was ever forbidden to come back.^[4] According to Lasser, she was initially told she would be able to write her own material, but that promise was later reneged, and she also refused to do sketches she deemed "salacious"; one in particular featured Lasser andGilda Radner as teenagers talking about male genitalia. Ultimately,Jane Curtin appeared in the sketch with Radner instead.^[12] Lasser also asserts that herSNL antics, which include stream-of-consciousness rambling (typical of her Mary Hartman character), were "on purpose" and thatLorne 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.^[4] 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,"^[4] but aside from the intro segment in which Radner andDan 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 the1976 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 byAlan Zweibel, try to break up but forget their lines; in the end, Lasser moves to the bar and sits next toMichael Sarrazin. Lorne Michaels also briefly shows up in the clip, which ends with "a film by Louise Lasser" credit.^[13] 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."^[4]Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman producer Norman Lear and co-starMary Kay Place also hostedSNL during the run ofMary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Following her departure fromMary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lasser wrote a made-for-TV movie titledJust Me and You (1978) and starred in it withCharles Grodin. Her post-Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman stage credits includeA Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking andMarie and Bruce (1980).^[2] She had a recurring role as Alex's ex-wife on the hit seriesTaxi and starred in the 1981–82 season ofIt's a Living, in which she played waitress Maggie McBurney.^[14]

Lasser had a recurring role onSt. Elsewhere in the mid-1980s as Victor Ehrlich's Aunt Charise, a neurotic comic character. Her 1980s film appearances includedStardust 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 inSing (1989).^[2]

Her 1990s films includedFrankenhooker (1990),The Night We Never Met (1993),Sudden Manhattan (1996),Layin' Low (1996) and as the mother of the three main female characters inTodd Solondz's filmHappiness (1998). She appeared inMystery Men (1999) as the mother ofHank Azaria's character. She also had roles inDarren Aronofsky's filmRequiem for a Dream (2000), the romantic comedyFast Food Fast Women (2000) and co-starred withRenée Taylor inNational Lampoon's Gold Diggers (2003).

Lasser acted in two episodes ofHBO'sGirls as a Manhattan artist for the series' third season (2014).^[15] She has been a faculty member ofHB Studio, where she taught acting technique.^[16] In 2014, she directed the Off-Off-Broadway production ofIra Lewis'Chinese Coffee.^[17] In 2021, she was reunited with herMary Hartman co-starGreg Mullavey in a 16-minute film short calledBliss.^[18][19] In 2022, she appeared inFunny Pages, her first role in a theatrical feature film in almost 20 years. Chris Feil ofThe Daily Beast wrote, "Louise Lasser makes for what is surely the most hilariously bizarre, yet downright frightening one-scene-wonder".^[20]

Lasser marriedWoody Allen in 1966. Although the couple divorced in 1970, she appeared in five of his films from 1966 to 1980.^[21] She said of working with Allen, "I think he's very talented, and really funny, and really serious".^[22] She currently lives inManhattan and runs the Louise Lasser Acting Studio on theUpper East Side.^[2]

In the spring of 1976 in Los Angeles, Lasser was arrested at a charity boutique, and police found $6 worth (88 milligrams) of cocaine in her purse. Authorities were called after Lasser'sAmerican Express card was denied and Lasser refused to leave without possession of a $150dollhouse. Lasser was initially apprehended for two unpaid traffic tickets (one forjaywalking), but the officers then found the drug in her handbag.^{[clarification needed]} Lasser claimed the cocaine 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.^[23] A fictionalized version of the dollhouse incident was also incorporated intoMary Hartman's first season.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman offers "Kitchen Sink Theater of the Absurd"^[23] featuring aCandide-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.^[15]

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."^[24] 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 formerMary Hartman, Mary Hartman cast and crew members at thePaley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. The seminar, entitledMary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Reunion, Reunion, was moderated by Steven A. Bell and taped for the museum archives.^[25]

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

In 1967, Lasser became the first woman to win aClio Award for Best Actress in a Commercial. She was nominated for anEmmy Award for her performance inMary Hartman, Mary Hartman and won theNational Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble for her participation in the filmHappiness.^[2]

• Louise Lasser atIMDb 
• Louise Lasser at theTCM Movie Database
• Louise Lasser at theInternet Broadway Database
• Louise Lasser at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Louise Lasser atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Official website

• 1939 births
• Living people
• Actresses from New York City
• American film actresses
• American musical theatre actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television writers
• American television actresses
• American women television writers
• Brandeis University alumni
• Jewish American actresses
• Screenwriters from New York (state)

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