Linda Lavin

After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s. She began appearing on Broadway in the 1960s, earning notice in "It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman" in 1966 and receiving her first Tony Award nomination for "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" in 1970. She moved to Hollywood in 1973 and began to work on television, making recurring appearances on the sitcom "Barney Miller" before landing the title role on the hit comedy "Alice," which ran from 1976 to 1985. She appeared in many telefilms and later she appeared in other TV works. She has also played roles in several feature films.

In 1987, she returned to Broadway, starring in "Broadway Bound" (winning a Tony Award), "Gypsy" (1990), "The Sisters Rosensweig" (1993), "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1997–1998) and "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" (2000–2001), among others. In 2010, she appeared as Ruth Steiner in "Collected Stories," garnering her fifth Tony nomination. She starred in NBC's short-lived sitcom "Sean Saves the World" as Lorna and the CBS sitcom "9JKL." She also starred in the CBS sitcom "B Positive."