Madeline Kahn

Madeline Kahn

Kahn in 1983
Born Madeline Gail Wolfson
(1942-09-29)September 29, 1942
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died December 3, 1999(1999-12-03) (aged 57)
New York, New York, United States
Cause of death Ovarian cancer
Occupation actress, singer, comedian
Years active 1964–1999
Spouse(s) John Hansbury
(October–December 1999; her death)

Madeline Gail Kahn (born Madeline Gail Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian, voice actress, and singer, known for her comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks; including What's Up, Doc? (1972), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), and her Academy Award nominated roles in Paper Moon (1973) and Blazing Saddles (1974).

Kahn made her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968, and received the first of four Tony Award nominations for the 1973 play In the Boom Boom Room. She received subsequent nominations for the original production of the musical On the Twentieth Century (1978) and the revival of the play Born Yesterday (1989), before winning the 1993 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the comedy The Sisters Rosensweig. She had previously won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1987 for ABC Afterschool Special. Her other film appearances included The Cheap Detective (1978), City Heat (1983), Clue (1985) and Nixon (1995).

Early life and Education

Kahn was born on September 29, 1942 in Boston, the daughter of Bernard B. Wolfson, a garment manufacturer, and his wife, Freda (née Goldberg).[1][2] She was raised in a non-observant Jewish family.[3] Her parents divorced when Kahn was two, and she and her mother moved to New York City. In 1953, Freda married Hiller Kahn, who later adopted Madeline; she eventually changed her name to Paula Kahn.[2] Kahn had two half-siblings: Jeffrey (from her mother's marriage to Kahn) and Robyn (from Bernard Wolfson's second marriage).[4]

In 1948, Kahn was sent to a progressive boarding school in Pennsylvania. During that time, her mother pursued her acting dream. Kahn soon began acting herself and performed in a number of school productions.[5] In 1960, she graduated from Martin Van Buren High School[6] in Queens, and then earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University on Long Island. At Hofstra, she studied drama, music, and speech therapy. Kahn graduated from Hofstra in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy.[5] She was a member of a local sorority on campus, Delta Chi Delta. She later studied singing in New York City with Beverley Peck Johnson.[7]

Career

When asked on television by Kitty Carlisle and Charles Nelson Reilly how she began the opera aspect of her career she said, "It's so hard to determine exactly when I began or why, singing. The Muse was definitely not in attendance. I'll tell you exactly." To earn money while a college student, Kahn was a singing waitress at a Bavarian restaurant called Bavarian Manor, a Hofbräuhaus in New York's Hudson Valley. She sang musical comedy numbers during shows.[8]

There was a really important customer there, a big Italian man, who shouted out to me, 'Sing Madame Butterfly,' and of course he didn't mean the whole opera. He meant that one very popular aria, 'un Bel Di'. So if I was to come back the next summer to earn more money during the next year I'd better know that aria. You know, and I didn't know anything about it; I just learned that one aria and a few others and then one thing led to another and I studied that, and I discovered that I could sing that, sort of, that way. But my first actual thing that I did was Candide for Leonard Bernstein's 50th birthday at Philharmonic Hall[9] - at the time that's what it was called.[10] And I don't know if that was an opera but it was very hard to sing. I actually have done 'Musetta' in La Bohème a long time ago in Washington DC. I mean, utterly terrifying. I mean basically I feel as though I was asked to do it and I did it.[8]

1960s

Kahn began auditioning for professional acting roles shortly after her graduation from Hofstra; on the side, she briefly taught public school.[5] Just before adopting the professional name Madeline Kahn (Kahn was her stepfather's surname), she made her stage debut as a chorus girl in a revival of Kiss Me, Kate,[11] 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,[12] as was her role as Miss Whipple in the original production of Promises, Promises. She made her Broadway debut in 1969 with Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968.[13] In 1968, she also performed her first professional lead in a special concert performance of the operetta Candide in honor of Leonard Bernstein's 50th birthday.[5] In 1969, she appeared off Broadway in the musical Promenade.[14]

1970s and 1980s

She appeared in two Broadway musicals in the 1970s: a featured role in Richard Rodgers' 1970 Noah's Ark-themed show Two by Two[11] (singing a high C)[5] and a leading lady turn as Lily Garland in 1978's On the Twentieth Century.[11] She left (or, reportedly, was fired from) the latter show early in its run, yielding the role to her understudy, Judy Kaye.[15][16] She starred in a 1977 Town Hall semi-staged concert version of She Loves Me (opposite Barry Bostwick and original London cast member Rita Moreno).[5][17]

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.[18] Her film career continued with Paper Moon (1973), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[11]

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 claim 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; however, Kahn stated in a 1996 interview with Charlie Rose that she had indeed been fired from Mame.[19])

A close succession of comedies — Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), and High Anxiety (1977) — were all directed by Mel Brooks,[11] who was able to bring out the best of Kahn's comic talents.[20] 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.[11] In the April 2006 issue of Premiere magazine, her performance as Lili von Schtüpp in Saddles was selected as #74 on its list of the 100 greatest performances of all time.[21]

In 1975, Kahn again teamed with Peter Bogdanovich to co-star with Burt Reynolds and Cybill Shepherd in the musical At Long Last Love. The film was a critical and financial disaster, but Kahn largely escaped blame for the film's failure. Also in 1975, she teamed again with Gene Wilder for his comedy The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. In 1978, Kahn's comic screen persona reached another peak with Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective (1978),[11] a spoof of both Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, directed by Robert Moore.

Kahn's roles were primarily comedic rather than dramatic, though the 1970s found her originating roles in two plays that had both elements: 1973's In the Boom Boom Room on Broadway[22] and 1977's Marco Polo Sings a Solo Off-Broadway.[23]

After her success in Brooks' films, she played in a number of less successful films in the 1980s. She played Mrs. White in 1985's Clue.[24] Other roles included First Lady Mrs. Link in the 1980 spoof First Family, a twin from outer space in the Jerry Lewis sci-fi comedy Slapstick of Another Kind (1982), the love interest of Burt Reynolds in the crime comedy City Heat (1984), the animated film My Little Pony: The Movie (1986), the holiday farce Mixed Nuts (1994) and a cameo in 1979's The Muppet Movie.[25] She voiced the character Gussie Mausheimer in the animated film An American Tail. According to animator Don Bluth, she was cast because he was "hoping she would use a voice similar to the one she used as a character in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles.[26]

In 1983, she starred in her own short-lived TV sitcom, Oh Madeline,[5] 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. [27] In 1987, Kahn won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance in the ABC Afterschool Special Wanted: The Perfect Guy.[5]

Kahn returned to the stage in the role first embodied by Judy Holliday, in the 1989 Broadway revival of Born Yesterday, and was nominated for the Tony Award, Actress in a Play.[28]

1990s

Later in her career, she played Dr. Gorgeous in Wendy Wasserstein's 1993 play (on Broadway), The Sisters Rosensweig, a role which earned her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. [29] Kahn played Molly Ringwald's mother in the 1990 film Betsy's Wedding.[30] Kahn played the corrupt mayor in a benefit concert performance of Anyone Can Whistle in 1995.[31] She appeared in Nixon as Martha Beall Mitchell (1995).[32] She participated in a workshop reading of Dear World at the Roundabout Theatre Company in June 1998, reading the part of Gabrielle.[33] In the early 1990s, Kahn recorded a voice for the animated movie The Magic 7.[34] Her most notable role at that time was on the sitcom Cosby (1996–1999) as Pauline, the eccentric neighbor.[5] She also voiced Gypsy the moth in A Bug's Life (1998).[35]

Kahn received good reviews for her Chekhovian turn in the 1999 independent movie Judy Berlin, her final film.[36] For example, the AllMovie reviewer wrote: "...in her final film role, Madeline Kahn lends the proceedings a funny, infectious sense of wonder as David's loopy mom."[37]

Illness and death

Kahn developed ovarian cancer in 1998. She underwent treatment and continued to work on Cosby and married John Hansbury in October 1999.[38] The disease spread rapidly, and she died on December 3, 1999, at age 57.[39] Her body was cremated. A bench dedicated to her memory was erected in Central Park by her husband John Hansbury and her brother Jeffrey Kahn.

Work

Filmography

Sources: Masterworks,[5] TCM,[11] The New York Times[40]

Movie Year Roles Notes
De Düva (The Dove) 1968
What's Up, Doc? 1972
Paper Moon 1973
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler 1973
Blazing Saddles 1974
Young Frankenstein 1974
At Long Last Love 1975
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother 1975
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood 1976
High Anxiety 1977
The Cheap Detective 1978
The Muppet Movie 1979
First Family 1980
Happy Birthday, Gemini 1980
Wholly Moses! 1980
Simon 1980
History of the World, Part I 1981
Slapstick of Another Kind 1982
Yellowbeard 1983
City Heat 1984
Clue 1985
My Little Pony: The Movie 1986 (voice)
An American Tail 1986 Gussie Mausheimer (voice)
Betsy's Wedding 1990
Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book 1992 (Narrator)
Mixed Nuts 1994
Nixon 1995
A Bug's Life 1998 Gypsy (voice)
Judy Berlin 1999
The Magic 7 2009 (voice - produced 1990-1993 - unreleased)

Theatre

Sources: PlaybillVault,[41] Masterworks,[5] TCM,[11] Lortel,[42] BroadwayWorld[43]

Production Year
Kiss Me, Kate 1965
Just for Openers (Upstairs at the Downstairs)[44] 1965
Mixed Doubles (Upstairs at the Downstairs)[45] 1966
Below the Belt 1966
How Now, Dow Jones 1967 (replaced by Brenda Vaccaro prior to opening)
Candide 1968
Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968 1968
Promenade 1969
Two by Two 1970
In the Boom Boom Room 1973
She Loves Me 1977
On the Twentieth Century 1978
Born Yesterday 1989
Hello, Dolly! (tour) [46] 1992
The Sisters Rosensweig 1993
Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall (Concert at Carnegie Hall)[47] 1992
Anyone Can Whistle 1995
Dear World[48] 1998 (workshop)

Television

Sources: Masterworks,[5] TCM,[11] The New York Times[40] TV Guide[49]

Show Year / Episode
Harvey 1972
The Carol Burnett Show Guest star: 1975
Saturday Night Live Three episodes hosted: 1976, 1977 and 1995
The Muppet Show Episode 209 1977[50]
Sesame Street Episodes 1112 and 1186 1978
Sesame Street Episode 1576 1981
Oh Madeline 1983–1984
Comedy Factory CTV (1985–86) Season 2, Episode 6:Chameleon 1986
Mr. President 1987–1988
Road to Avonlea Episode 211 1991
Monkey House [51][52] 1993 (canceled after 7 episodes)
Lucky Luke[53] 1992 (canceled after 8 episodes)
Sesame Street Episode 3136 1994
New York News 1995 (canceled after 13 episodes)
London Suite [54] 1996
Cosby cast member 1996–1999
Little Bill 1999, dedicated to her memory

Awards and nominations

Year Work Award Result Ref
1973 What's Up, Doc? Golden Globe Award for New Star Actress of the Year Nominated [55]
1974 Paper Moon Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated [55]
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated [56]
In the Boom Boom Room Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance Won
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play Nominated
1975 Young Frankenstein Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated [55]
Blazing Saddles Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated [56]
1978 On the Twentieth Century Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical Nominated
1984 Oh Madeline Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated [55]
People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Series Won
1987 ABC Afterschool Special Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming Won
1989 Born Yesterday Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical Nominated
1993 The Sisters Rosensweig Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Won
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play Won
Honorary awards
2003 American Theatre Hall of Fame Inductee [57]

References

  1. ↑ "Madeline Kahn". Jwa.org. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  2. 1 2 William V. Madison (June 13, 2012). "Billevesées: Progress Report 14: When Hiller Met Paula". Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ Specter, Michael (April 8, 1993). "AT HOME WITH: Madeline Kahn; Funny? Yes, but Someone's Got to Be". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  4. ↑ Biography tvguide.com, accessed February 16, 2015
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Kahn Biography" masterworksbroadway.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  6. ↑ "1960 Martin Van Buren Yearbook". classmates.com. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Anthony Tommasini (January 22, 2001). "Beverley Peck Johnson, 96, Voice Teacher". The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 Madeline Kahn on her opera career on YouTube (video clip)
  9. ↑ Online programme Candide Nov 10, 1968 retrieved Oct 17,2013
  10. ↑ audio clip Philharmonic Hall performance, Nov 1968 Video on YouTube retrieved Oct 17,2013
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Kahn Milestones" tcm.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  12. ↑ Mandelbaum, Ken. Not Since Carrie August 15, 1992, Macmillan,ISBN 1466843276, p. 201
  13. ↑ New Faces Production playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  14. ↑ Promenade Production lortel.org, accessed February 13, 2015
  15. ↑ The New York Times, April 25, 1978, p. 46
  16. ↑ Corry, John. "Broadway; Terrence McNally has a comedy about stage due in fall", The New York Times, May 5, 1978, p. C2
  17. ↑ Madison, William V. She Loves Me Madeline Kahn: Being the Music, A Life, (books.google.com), Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2015, ISBN 1617037621
  18. ↑ " What's Up, Doc? Production" tcm.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  19. ↑ "An interview with Madeline Kahn". Charlie Rose. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
  20. ↑ "Kahn Biography" tcm.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  21. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Performances of All Time". Premiere Magazine. 2006-03-27.
  22. ↑ In the Boom Boom Room Production playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  23. ↑ Marco Polo Sings a Solo Production lortel.org, accessed February 13, 2015
  24. ↑ Maslin, Janet. "Review, 'Clue' " The New York Times, December 13, 1985
  25. ↑ "The Muppet Movie (1979)". Henson.com. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  26. ↑ "Don Bluth American Tail". Cataroo.com. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  27. ↑ Terrace, Vincent. Chamelon Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed., McFarland, 2008, ISBN 0786486414, p. 175
  28. ↑ Born Yesterday Production playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  29. ↑ "Madeline Kahn, Credits and Awards" playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  30. ↑ "Betsy's Wedding Cast and Crew" tcm.com, accessed March 28, 2015
  31. ↑ " "Anyone Can Whistle' Concert, 1995" sondheimguide.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  32. ↑ Nixon Cast nytimes.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  33. ↑ " Dear World Reading" roundabouttheatre.org, accessed February 14, 2015
  34. ↑ " The Magic 7 Cast and Crew" tcm.com, accessed March 28, 2015
  35. ↑ A Bug's Life Cast nytimes.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  36. ↑ Holden, Stephen. Judy Berlin Overview nytimes.com, accessed February 13, 2015
  37. ↑ Hastings, Michael. " Judy BerlinReview" allmovie.com, accessed March 28, 2015
  38. ↑ Variety, p. 7, December 6, 1999.
  39. ↑ Honan, William H. (December 4, 1999). "Madeline Kahn, Comedian Of Film Fame, Dies at 57". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  40. 1 2 "Kahn Filmography and Biography" The New York Times, accessed February 14, 2015
  41. ↑ "Kahn Broadway List" playbillvault.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  42. ↑ "Kahn Off-Broadway List" lortel.org, accessed February 14, 2015
  43. ↑ "Kahn Theatre Credits" broadwayworld.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  44. ↑ "Lortel Archives-The Internet Off-Broadway Database". Lortel.org. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  45. ↑ "Lortel Archives-The Internet Off-Broadway Database". Lortel.org. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  46. ↑ " Hello, Dolly!, TOur" ovrtur.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  47. ↑ "Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall" sondheimguide.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  48. ↑ " Dear World 1998 Workshop Cast" broadwayworld.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  49. ↑ "Kahn Credits" tvguide.com, accessed February 16, 215
  50. ↑ Garlen, Jennifer C.; Graham, Anissa M. (2009). Kermit Culture: Critical Perspectives on Jim Henson's Muppets. McFarland & Company. p. 218. ISBN 078644259X.
  51. ↑ Goudas, John N. A Look Inside Vonnegut's 'Monkey House'" LA Times, February 21, 1993
  52. ↑ Monkey House Cast and Episodes" imdb.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  53. ↑ " Lucky Luke Cast" imdb.com, accessed February 14, 2015
  54. ↑ Koehler, Robert. "NBC Puts 'London Suite' Through a 'Seinfeld' Filter" LA Times, September 14, 1996
  55. 1 2 3 4 Kahn list hfpa.org, accessed February 15, 2015
  56. 1 2 Kahn listing awardsdatabase.oscars.org, accessed February 15, 2015
  57. ↑ "Theater honors put women in the spotlight". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 12, 2014.

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