

She completed a stint in The Vagina Monologues. Clair with Kevin James in two episodes of The King of Queens.Ī life member of The Actors Studio, Kazan returned to Broadway to recreate her film role for the musical adaptation of My Favorite Year, earning a Tony Award nomination for her performance. Although the scene was deleted in the feature film, it is included on the DVD in the special features section. Other recent film work includes the mother of Adam Sandler’s character in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
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Following the first film in the franchise, Kazan was featured in My Big Fat Greek Life, a short-lived series based on the film. Kazan played Maria Portokalos, the mother of Toula Portokalos ( Nia Vardalos) in the films My Big Fat Greek Wedding and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. Her other television work has included The Paper Chase, Columbo, Touched by an Angel, and Will & Grace. Elsewhere that resulted in an Emmy nomination. Other television work includes a recurring role as Aunt Frieda on the Fran Drescher sitcom The Nanny, the mother of Kirstie Alley's character on Veronica's Closet, and various guest roles, including one on St. Īlong with appearing in numerous supper clubs across the country, Kazan guest-starred on Dean Martin’s variety series 26 times. Her Playboy photographs inspired the look of Jack Kirby’s superheroine Big Barda. Overseen by Hugh Hefner, the clubs were named Lainie's Room West and Lainie's Room East, each on opposite coasts, with the first one located in Los Angeles and the other in Manhattan. Her appearance in the magazine opened the door for her to headline and operate two different Playboy Jazz Clubs. Her popularity increasing, Kazan posed nude for the October 1970 issue of Playboy, which was reused in Pocket Playboy #4, issued in 1974. When Streisand could not perform due to a throat condition, Kazan took her place in a matinee and evening performance for one day of the show's run. She appeared the following year in another musical, Bravo Giovanni, and understudied Barbra Streisand for the lead role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1964). Kazan made her Broadway debut in 1961 with the musical The Happiest Girl in the World. While at Hofstra, Kazan appeared in school musicals written and directed by a classmate director Francis Ford Coppola as well as actor James Caan. Kazan studied theatre at HB Studio and graduated from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York in 1960. Kazan has described her mother as "neurotic, fragile and artistic." Kazan attended Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School with Barbra Streisand, for whom she would later understudy. Some of her grandparents lived in Israel before moving to Manchester, England and settling in Brooklyn. She is of Ashkenazi Jewish and Sephardic Jewish descent. Kazan was born Lainie Levine in Brooklyn, the daughter of Carole (nee Kazan) and Ben Levine. Kazan played Maria Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and its sequels My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 She also played Aunt Freida on The Nanny.


She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in My Favorite Year (1982). Elsewhere and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for My Favorite Year.

She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for St. Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer.
