Madeline Kahn
Encyclopedia
Madeline Kahn was an American actress. Kahn was known primarily for her comedic roles in film
s such as Paper Moon
, Young Frankenstein
, Blazing Saddles
, What's Up, Doc?
, and Clue
.
, Massachusetts
, the daughter of Paula Kahn and Bernard B. Wolfson, who was a garment manufacturer. She was raised in a non-observant Jewish family. Her parents divorced when Kahn was two, and she and her mother moved to New York City
. Several years later her parents remarried others and gave Kahn two half-siblings: Jeffrey (from her mother) and Robyn (from her father).
In 1948, Kahn was sent to a progressive boarding school in Pennsylvania
and stayed there until 1952. During that time, her mother pursued her acting dream. Kahn soon began acting herself and performed in a number of school productions. In 1960, she graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens
, where she earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University
on Long Island
. At Hofstra, she studied drama, music, and speech therapy. After changing her major a number of times, Kahn graduated from Hofstra in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy. She was a member of a local sorority on campus, Delta Chi Delta.
. Just before adopting the professional name Madeline Kahn (Kahn was her mother's maiden name), she made her stage debut as a chorus girl in a revival of Kiss Me, Kate
, which led her to join Actors' Equity. Her part in the flop How Now, Dow Jones
was written out before the 1967 show reached Broadway
, as was her role as Miss Whipple in the original production of Promises, Promises
. She earned her first break on Broadway with New Faces of 1968. That same year, she performed her first professional lead in a special concert performance of the operetta
Candide
in honor of Leonard Bernstein
's 50th birthday. In 1969, she appeared Off Broadway in the musical Promenade.
She appeared in two Broadway musicals in the 1970s: a featured role in Richard Rodgers
' 1970 Noah's Ark
-themed show Two by Two
(her silly waltz "The Golden Ram," capped by a high C, can be heard on the show's cast album) and a leading lady turn as Lily Garland in 1978's On the Twentieth Century
. She left (or was fired from) the latter show early in its run, yielding the role to her understudy, Judy Kaye
, whose career it launched. She also starred in a 1977 Town Hall revival of She Loves Me
(opposite Barry Bostwick
and original London cast member Rita Moreno
).
Kahn's film debut was in the 1968 short De Düva (The Dove)
. Her feature debut was as Ryan O'Neal
's hysterical fiancée in Peter Bogdanovich
's screwball comedy What's Up, Doc?
(1972) starring Barbra Streisand
. Her film career continued with Paper Moon
(1973), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
. Kahn was cast in the role of Agnes Gooch in the 1974 film Mame
, but star Lucille Ball
fired Kahn due to artistic differences. (Note: several of Ball's biographies note that Kahn was eager to be released from the role so that she could join the cast of Blazing Saddles
, a film about to go into production; whether Kahn was fired or left Mame under mutual agreement is undetermined. However, Kahn stated in a 1996 Charlie Rose interview that she had indeed been fired from Mame.)
A close succession of Kahn comedies — Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein
(1974), and High Anxiety
(1977) — were all directed by Mel Brooks
, who many Hollywood observers claimed was able to bring out the best of Kahn's comic talents. Their last collaboration was 1981's History of the World, Part I
. For Blazing Saddles, she was again nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In the April 2006 issue of Premiere magazine, her performance as Lili von Shtupp in Saddles was selected as #74 on its list of the 100 greatest performances of all time. In 1978, Kahn's comic screen persona reached another peak with Neil Simon
's The Cheap Detective
(1978), a spoof of both Casablanca
and The Maltese Falcon
, directed by Robert Moore
. In the film she befuddles Peter Falk
's gumshoe with an array of fake identities.
Kahn's roles were primarily comedic rather than dramatic, though the 1970s found her originating roles in two plays that had both elements: 1974's In the Boom Boom Room
and 1977's Marco Polo Sings a Solo. After her success in Brooks' films, she played in a number of less successful films in the 1980s (perhaps most memorably as Mrs. White in the 1985 film Clue
). She also performed in the movie The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
(1975) opposite Gene Wilder
, the animation film My Little Pony: The Movie
(1986), the holiday farce Mixed Nuts
(1994) and a cameo in 1978's The Muppet Movie
.
In 1983, she starred in her own short-lived TV sitcom, Oh Madeline, which ended after only one season due to poor ratings. In 1986 she starred in ABC Comedy Factory's pilot episode of Chameleon, which never aired on the fall schedule; it co-starred Nina Foch
. In 1987, Kahn won a Daytime Emmy award
for her performance in the ABC Afterschool Special
, Wanted: The Perfect Guy.
Late in her career, Kahn returned to the stage, first in Judy Holliday
's role in a 1989 revival of Born Yesterday
, then as Dr. Gorgeous in Wendy Wasserstein
's 1993 play The Sisters Rosensweig
, a role that earned her a Tony Award
. She played the corrupt mayor (Angela Lansbury
's role) in a concert performance of Anyone Can Whistle
that was released on CD. She also continued to appear in movies.
In the early 1990s, Kahn recorded a voice for the animated
movie The Magic 7
. Her most notable role at that time was on the sitcom Cosby
(1996–2000) as Pauline, the eccentric neighbor. She also voiced Gypsy the moth in A Bug's Life
(1998). Kahn received some of the best reviews of her career for her Chekhovian turn in the 1999 independent movie Judy Berlin
, her final film.
in early 1999. She underwent treatment and continued to work, continuing her role on Cosby
. Kahn married her long-time companion, John Hansbury, in October 1999. However, the disease progressed very rapidly and she died December 3, 1999 in New York City. She was 57 years old. In Central Park
, there is a bench erected by her husband and her brother, dedicated in her memory.
Award Wins:
Award Nominations:
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s such as Paper Moon
Paper Moon (film)
Paper Moon is a 1973 American comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was adapted from the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown, and the film was shot in black-and-white. The film is set during the Great Depression in the U.S. states of Kansas and...
, Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard...
, Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, the film was written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and was based on Bergman's story and draft. The movie was nominated for three...
, What's Up, Doc?
What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)
What's Up, Doc? is a 1972 screwball comedy film released by Warner Bros., directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn...
, and Clue
Clue (film)
Clue is a 1985 comedy mystery film based on the board game of the same name . The film is a murder mystery set in a Gothic Revival mansion, and is styled after Murder by Death and other various murder/dinner parties of mystery...
.
Early life
Kahn was born Madeline Gail Wolfson in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, the daughter of Paula Kahn and Bernard B. Wolfson, who was a garment manufacturer. She was raised in a non-observant Jewish family. Her parents divorced when Kahn was two, and she and her mother moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Several years later her parents remarried others and gave Kahn two half-siblings: Jeffrey (from her mother) and Robyn (from her father).
In 1948, Kahn was sent to a progressive boarding school in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and stayed there until 1952. During that time, her mother pursued her acting dream. Kahn soon began acting herself and performed in a number of school productions. In 1960, she graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, where she earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead, New York, United States, about east of New York City: less than an hour away by train or car...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. At Hofstra, she studied drama, music, and speech therapy. After changing her major a number of times, Kahn graduated from Hofstra in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy. She was a member of a local sorority on campus, Delta Chi Delta.
Career
Kahn began auditioning for professional acting roles shortly after her graduation from Hofstra; on the side, she briefly taught public school in Levittown, New YorkLevittown, New York
Levittown is a hamlet in the Town of Hempstead located on Long Island in Nassau County, New York. Levittown is midway between the villages of Hempstead and Farmingdale. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 51,881....
. Just before adopting the professional name Madeline Kahn (Kahn was her mother's maiden name), she made her stage debut as a chorus girl in a revival of Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
, which led her to join Actors' Equity. Her part in the flop How Now, Dow Jones
How Now, Dow Jones
How Now, Dow Jones is a musical comedy by Academy Award winner Elmer Bernstein, Tony Award nominee Carolyn Leigh and Max Shulman. The original Broadway production opened in December 1967. A critically acclaimed revised version premiered in August 2009....
was written out before the 1967 show reached Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, as was her role as Miss Whipple in the original production of Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
. She earned her first break on Broadway with New Faces of 1968. That same year, she performed her first professional lead in a special concert performance of the operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
Candide
Candide (operetta)
Candide is an operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein, based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. The operetta was first performed in 1956 with a libretto by Lillian Hellman; but since 1974 it has been generally performed with a book by Hugh Wheeler which is more faithful to...
in honor of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's 50th birthday. In 1969, she appeared Off Broadway in the musical Promenade.
She appeared in two Broadway musicals in the 1970s: a featured role in Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
' 1970 Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
-themed show Two by Two
Two by Two (musical)
Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.Based on Clifford Odets's play The Flowering Peach, it tells the story of Noah's preparations for the Great Flood and its aftermath....
(her silly waltz "The Golden Ram," capped by a high C, can be heard on the show's cast album) and a leading lady turn as Lily Garland in 1978's On the Twentieth Century
On the Twentieth Century
On the Twentieth Century is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Part operetta, part farce, part screwball comedy, the story involves the behind-the-scenes relationship of a temperamental actress and a director.-Background:Comden and Green based...
. She left (or was fired from) the latter show early in its run, yielding the role to her understudy, Judy Kaye
Judy Kaye
Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime and Mamma Mia!-Biography:...
, whose career it launched. She also starred in a 1977 Town Hall revival of She Loves Me
She Loves Me
She Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
(opposite Barry Bostwick
Barry Bostwick
Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, replacing Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler in the sitcom What I Like About You, and playing mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City...
and original London cast member Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....
).
Kahn's film debut was in the 1968 short De Düva (The Dove)
The Dove (1968 film)
The Dove is a 1968 American short film that humorously parodies the films of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. The film borrows heavily from the plot lines of some of Bergman's most famous films made before 1968. There is a journey by car back to the location of childhood memories as in Wild...
. Her feature debut was as Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
's hysterical fiancée in Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
's screwball comedy What's Up, Doc?
What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)
What's Up, Doc? is a 1972 screwball comedy film released by Warner Bros., directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn...
(1972) starring Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
. Her film career continued with Paper Moon
Paper Moon (film)
Paper Moon is a 1973 American comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was adapted from the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown, and the film was shot in black-and-white. The film is set during the Great Depression in the U.S. states of Kansas and...
(1973), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
. Kahn was cast in the role of Agnes Gooch in the 1974 film Mame
Mame (film)
Mame is a 1974 musical film based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Gene Saks, written by Paul Zindel, and starring Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur.Warner Bros...
, but star Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
fired Kahn due to artistic differences. (Note: several of Ball's biographies note that Kahn was eager to be released from the role so that she could join the cast of Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, the film was written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and was based on Bergman's story and draft. The movie was nominated for three...
, a film about to go into production; whether Kahn was fired or left Mame under mutual agreement is undetermined. However, Kahn stated in a 1996 Charlie Rose interview that she had indeed been fired from Mame.)
A close succession of Kahn comedies — Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard...
(1974), and High Anxiety
High Anxiety
High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role...
(1977) — were all directed by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, who many Hollywood observers claimed was able to bring out the best of Kahn's comic talents. Their last collaboration was 1981's History of the World, Part I
History of the World, Part I
History of the World, Part I is a 1981 comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and Jacques, le garçon de pisse...
. For Blazing Saddles, she was again nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In the April 2006 issue of Premiere magazine, her performance as Lili von Shtupp in Saddles was selected as #74 on its list of the 100 greatest performances of all time. In 1978, Kahn's comic screen persona reached another peak with Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's The Cheap Detective
The Cheap Detective
The Cheap Detective is a 1978 American satirical comedy film written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore as a follow-up to their successful Murder by Death ....
(1978), a spoof of both Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
and The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
, directed by Robert Moore
Robert Moore
Robert Moore may refer to:*Robert Moore , Northern Ireland theologian and politician*Robert Moore , United States Congressman from Pennsylvania...
. In the film she befuddles Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
's gumshoe with an array of fake identities.
Kahn's roles were primarily comedic rather than dramatic, though the 1970s found her originating roles in two plays that had both elements: 1974's In the Boom Boom Room
In the Boom Boom Room
In the Boom Boom Room is a play by David Rabe. It focuses on a go-go dancer whose difficult relationship with her parents has propelled her into a series of unfortunate affairs with both men and women....
and 1977's Marco Polo Sings a Solo. After her success in Brooks' films, she played in a number of less successful films in the 1980s (perhaps most memorably as Mrs. White in the 1985 film Clue
Clue (film)
Clue is a 1985 comedy mystery film based on the board game of the same name . The film is a murder mystery set in a Gothic Revival mansion, and is styled after Murder by Death and other various murder/dinner parties of mystery...
). She also performed in the movie The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
(1975) opposite Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
, the animation film My Little Pony: The Movie
My Little Pony: The Movie
My Little Pony: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the Hasbro toy line, My Little Pony. It was released on June 20, 1986 by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group...
(1986), the holiday farce Mixed Nuts
Mixed Nuts
Mixed Nuts is a motion picture comedy directed by Nora Ephron, based on the French comedy film, Le Père Noël est une ordure . Its cast includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Juliette Lewis and Adam Sandler...
(1994) and a cameo in 1978's The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets. Released in 1979, the film was produced by Henson Associates, Children's Television Workshop and ITC Entertainment....
.
In 1983, she starred in her own short-lived TV sitcom, Oh Madeline, which ended after only one season due to poor ratings. In 1986 she starred in ABC Comedy Factory's pilot episode of Chameleon, which never aired on the fall schedule; it co-starred Nina Foch
Nina Foch
Nina Foch was a Dutch-born American actress and leading lady in many 1940s and 1950s films.- Personal life :...
. In 1987, Kahn won a Daytime Emmy award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
for her performance in the ABC Afterschool Special
ABC Afterschool Special
The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were...
, Wanted: The Perfect Guy.
Late in her career, Kahn returned to the stage, first in Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...
's role in a 1989 revival of Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday is a play written by Garson Kanin which premiered on Broadway in 1946, starring Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn. The play was adapted intoa successful 1950 film of the same name.- Plot :...
, then as Dr. Gorgeous in Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
's 1993 play The Sisters Rosensweig
The Sisters Rosensweig
The Sisters Rosensweig is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish- American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in...
, a role that earned her a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
. She played the corrupt mayor (Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
's role) in a concert performance of Anyone Can Whistle
Anyone Can Whistle
Anyone Can Whistle is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The story concerns a corrupt mayoress, an idealistic nurse, a man who may be a doctor, and various officials, patients and townspeople, all fighting to save a bankrupt town...
that was released on CD. She also continued to appear in movies.
In the early 1990s, Kahn recorded a voice for the animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
movie The Magic 7
The Magic 7
The Magic 7 is an animated TV movie written and directed by Roger Holzberg. It centers on the adventures of two children and a dragon as they fight the arch-enemies of Earth. It was originally slated to air on Earth Day in 1997, but was postponed...
. Her most notable role at that time was on the sitcom Cosby
Cosby
Cosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...
(1996–2000) as Pauline, the eccentric neighbor. She also voiced Gypsy the moth in A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life is a 1998 American computer animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 25, 1998. A Bug's Life was the second Disney·Pixar feature film after Toy Story, and the third American computer-animated film after Toy...
(1998). Kahn received some of the best reviews of her career for her Chekhovian turn in the 1999 independent movie Judy Berlin
Judy Berlin
Judy Berlin is a 1999 American drama film directed by Eric Mendelsohn. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.Mendelsohn won the directing prize for Judy Berlin at the 1999 Sundance International Film Festival...
, her final film.
Illness and death
Madeline Kahn was diagnosed with ovarian cancerOvarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
in early 1999. She underwent treatment and continued to work, continuing her role on Cosby
Cosby
Cosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...
. Kahn married her long-time companion, John Hansbury, in October 1999. However, the disease progressed very rapidly and she died December 3, 1999 in New York City. She was 57 years old. In Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, there is a bench erected by her husband and her brother, dedicated in her memory.
Filmography
- De Düva (The Dove)The Dove (1968 film)The Dove is a 1968 American short film that humorously parodies the films of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. The film borrows heavily from the plot lines of some of Bergman's most famous films made before 1968. There is a journey by car back to the location of childhood memories as in Wild...
(1968) - What's Up, Doc?What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)What's Up, Doc? is a 1972 screwball comedy film released by Warner Bros., directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn...
(1972) - Paper MoonPaper Moon (film)Paper Moon is a 1973 American comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was adapted from the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown, and the film was shot in black-and-white. The film is set during the Great Depression in the U.S. states of Kansas and...
(1973) - From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. FrankweilerFrom the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973 film)From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a 1973 American children's film based on E. L. Konigsburg's novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It tells the story of a girl and her brother who run away from home to live in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and...
(1973) - Blazing SaddlesBlazing SaddlesBlazing Saddles is a 1974 satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, the film was written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and was based on Bergman's story and draft. The movie was nominated for three...
(1974) - Young FrankensteinYoung FrankensteinYoung Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard...
(1974) - At Long Last LoveAt Long Last LoveAt Long Last Love is an American motion picture musical that was released in 1975. It was written, produced and directed by Peter Bogdanovich and stars Burt Reynolds and Cybill Shepherd....
(1975) - The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
(1975) - Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved HollywoodWon Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved HollywoodWon Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood is a 1976 film directed by Michael Winner and starring Madeline Kahn, Bruce Dern, Teri Garr, and Art Carney...
(1976) - High AnxietyHigh AnxietyHigh Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role...
(1977) - The Cheap DetectiveThe Cheap DetectiveThe Cheap Detective is a 1978 American satirical comedy film written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore as a follow-up to their successful Murder by Death ....
(1978) - The Muppet MovieThe Muppet MovieThe Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets. Released in 1979, the film was produced by Henson Associates, Children's Television Workshop and ITC Entertainment....
(1979) - First FamilyFirst Family (film)First Family is an American film comedy released in 1980 starring Gilda Radner, Bob Newhart, and Madeline Kahn. It was written and directed by Buck Henry.-Plot summary:Manfred Link is the President of the United States...
(1980) - Happy Birthday, GeminiGemini (play)Gemini is a play by Albert Innaurato.-Plot:Set in the backyard of a blue collar South Philadelphia neighborhood early in the summer of 1973, the comedy-drama focuses on the 21st birthday celebration of Harvard student Francis Geminiani...
(1980) - Wholly Moses! (1980)
- SimonSimon (1980 film)Simon is a 1980 American comedy film. It was directed by Marshall Brickman and stars Alan Arkin.- Plot summary :The Institute for Advanced Concepts, a group of scientists with an unlimited budget and a propensity for elaborate pranks, brainwash a psychology professor named Simon Mendelssohn who was...
(1980) - History of the World, Part IHistory of the World, Part IHistory of the World, Part I is a 1981 comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and Jacques, le garçon de pisse...
(1981) - Slapstick of Another Kind (1982)
- YellowbeardYellowbeardYellowbeard is a 1983 comedy film by Graham Chapman, along with Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna and David Sherlock. It was directed by Mel Damski, and was Marty Feldman's last film appearance.-Plot:...
(1983) - City HeatCity HeatCity Heat is a 1984 American action-comedy film starring Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. The film was released in North America in December 1984. The pairing of Eastwood and Reynolds in a Prohibition-era action-comedy seemed to give the film the potential to be a hit...
(1984) - ClueClue (film)Clue is a 1985 comedy mystery film based on the board game of the same name . The film is a murder mystery set in a Gothic Revival mansion, and is styled after Murder by Death and other various murder/dinner parties of mystery...
(1985) - My Little Pony: The MovieMy Little Pony: The MovieMy Little Pony: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the Hasbro toy line, My Little Pony. It was released on June 20, 1986 by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group...
(1986) (voice) - An American TailAn American TailAn American Tail is a 1986 American animated adventure film directed by Don Bluth and produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios and Amblin Entertainment. The film tells the story of Fievel Mouskewitz and his family as they immigrate from Russia to America for freedom. However, Fievel gets lost and must...
(1986) (voice) - Betsy's Wedding (1990)
- Dr. Seuss's Sleep BookDr. Seuss's Sleep BookDr. Seuss's Sleep Book is a 1962 children's book by Dr. Seuss.This book begins with a small bug, named e, yawning. This yawn spreads and then the book follows various creatures, including the Foona Lagoona Baboona, the Collaspable Frink, the Chippendale Mupp, The Oft, and the Krandles, throughout...
(1992) (Narrator) - Mixed NutsMixed NutsMixed Nuts is a motion picture comedy directed by Nora Ephron, based on the French comedy film, Le Père Noël est une ordure . Its cast includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Juliette Lewis and Adam Sandler...
(1994) - NixonNixon (film)Nixon is a 1995 American biographical film directed by Oliver Stone for Cinergi Pictures that tells the story of the political and personal life of former US President Richard Nixon, played by Anthony Hopkins....
(1995) - A Bug's LifeA Bug's LifeA Bug's Life is a 1998 American computer animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 25, 1998. A Bug's Life was the second Disney·Pixar feature film after Toy Story, and the third American computer-animated film after Toy...
(1998) (voice) - Judy BerlinJudy BerlinJudy Berlin is a 1999 American drama film directed by Eric Mendelsohn. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.Mendelsohn won the directing prize for Judy Berlin at the 1999 Sundance International Film Festival...
(1999)
Theatre
- Just for Openers (1965)
- Mixed DoublesMixed DoublesMixed Doubles: An Entertainment on Marriage is a programme consisting of a series of eight short plays or revue sketches, each with two characters, composed by various English playwrights. It was first performed on 6 February 1969 in the Hampstead Theatre Club with the title, We Who Are About To......
(1966) - Below the Belt (1966)
- Candide in Concert (1968)
- Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968 (1968)
- Two by TwoTwo by Two (musical)Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.Based on Clifford Odets's play The Flowering Peach, it tells the story of Noah's preparations for the Great Flood and its aftermath....
(1970) - Boom Boom RoomBoom Boom RoomBoom Boom Room was a British male vocal/instrumental pop group, comprising Andy Nakanza , Skid , Inz , and Lushi . Lushi was also in a band called One The Juggler...
(1973) - On the Twentieth CenturyOn the Twentieth CenturyOn the Twentieth Century is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Part operetta, part farce, part screwball comedy, the story involves the behind-the-scenes relationship of a temperamental actress and a director.-Background:Comden and Green based...
(1978) - Born YesterdayBorn YesterdayBorn Yesterday is a play written by Garson Kanin which premiered on Broadway in 1946, starring Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn. The play was adapted intoa successful 1950 film of the same name.- Plot :...
(1989) - The Sisters RosensweigThe Sisters RosensweigThe Sisters Rosensweig is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish- American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in...
(1993) - Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall (1992)
Television
- Harvey (1972)
- Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(Three episodes hosted: 1976, 1977 and 1995) - The Muppet ShowThe Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
, Episode 209 (1977) - Sesame StreetSesame StreetSesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, Episode 1576 (1981) - Oh Madeline (1983)
- Comedy Factory CTV(1985–86) Season 2, Episode 6:Chameleon (1986)
- Mr. PresidentMr. President (TV series)Mr. President was a United States television series starring George C. Scott that premiered on May 3, 1987. It was part of the Fox Broadcasting Company's premiere season of prime time entertainment, alongside Married... With Children, The Tracey Ullman Show, and Duet.-Cast:*George C. Scott ... ...
(1987–1988) - Monkey House (1991) (canceled after 7 episodes)
- Lucky LukeLucky Luke (TV Series)Lucky Luke was a short-lived Italian western-comedy series starred by Terence Hill that aired in 1992, and was based on the Belgian comic book series Lucky Luke and on a movie with the same title directed and produced by the same Hill in 1991...
(1993) (canceled after 8 episodes) - Sesame StreetSesame StreetSesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, Episode 3136 (1994) - New York NewsNew York NewsNew York News was a newspaper drama which was broadcast in the United States by CBS as part of its 1995 fall lineup.-Premise:New York News was the story of the fictional New York Reporter, a struggling tabloid in the nation's largest, most competitive newspaper market, New York City...
(1995) (canceled after 13 episodes) - London SuiteLondon SuiteLondon Suite is a play by Neil Simon, later made into a 1996 Made-for-TV movie. It is in a similar style to Simon's earlier works: Plaza Suite and California Suite....
(1996) - CosbyCosbyCosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...
(cast member 1996–1999) - Little BillLittle BillLittle Bill is a television show for children on Nick Jr. The stories are based on Bill Cosby's Little Bill book series, set in Philadelphia and feature Bill Jr. learning a lesson or moral. It was developed through research and in consultation with a panel of educational consultants.The show also...
(1999)
Award Wins:
- 1987 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in children's programming for ABC Afterschool Special
- 1993 Tony Award for Best Actress in a play for The Sisters Rosenweig
Award Nominations:
- 1973 Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for What's Up Doc?
- 1974 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon
- 1974 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon
- 1974 Tony Award for Best Actress in a play for Boom Boom Boom
- 1975 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for Young Frankenstein
- 1975 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Blazing Saddles
- 1978 Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical for On the Twentieth Century
- 1989 Tony Award for Best Actress in a play for Born Yesterday