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 satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, for which she was Primetime Emmy Award nominated.
Lasser made her Broadway debut in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962).
She was married to Woody Allen from 1966 until 1970 and acted in several of his early films including Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971). She hosted Saturday Night Live in 1976 and took guest roles in The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Laverne and Shirley and St. Elsewhere.
Her later roles include black comedy films such as Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998) and Owen Kline's Funny Pages (2022). She portrayed Beadie in the Lena Dunham-created HBO coming-of-age series Girls from 2013 to 2014.
Lasser is also a life member of The Actors Studio and studied with both Sanford Meisner and Robert X. Modica.
Early life and education
Born in New York City, Lasser is the only child of Paula Lasser (née Cohen) and Sol Jay Lasser. Her father wrote and published the Everyone's Income Tax Guide series in the 1970s and 1980s. Louise did not fully embrace her Jewish heritage until later in life. Sol Jay Lasser later also committed suicide.
Career
1962–1975: Collaborations with Woody Allen
thumb|right|160px|Lasser was married to [[Woody Allen and acted in several of his films]]
She began her career acting in Greenwich Village coffee shops and bars and performed in improvisational revues before understudying Barbra Streisand as "Miss Marmelstein" in the Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale.
Her other 1970s comedic turns in cinema include Such Good Friends (1971) and Slither (1973). On television, she earned credits on Love, American Style (1971), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973). She also appeared in the 1973 TV-movie version of Ingmar Bergman's The Lie and was featured as Elaine in an episode of the NBC romantic anthology series Love Story.
1976–1982: Breakthrough and other roles
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
thumb|left|170px|Lasser with costar [[Greg Mullavey in a 1976 press photo for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]
Lasser's breakthrough role came as the unhappy, neurotic titular character in the soap opera satire Mary 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 of Newsweek, People, and Rolling Stone. In his biography, producer Norman Lear said that the casting of Lasser took less than a minute after Charles 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."
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."
Saturday Night Live host
On July 24, 1976, Lasser hosted the penultimate episode of Saturday Night Live<nowiki/>'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 by Chevy Chase/Land Shark and the promise of appearing on the cover of Time. Some reports claim that Lasser's erratic behavior on the show led to her being the first person banned from SNL. Chase accused her of "solipsism", and SNL writer Michael 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."
Lasser denies that she was ever forbidden to come back. Lasser also asserts that her SNL antics, which include stream-of-consciousness rambling (typical of her Mary Hartman character), were "on purpose" and that Lorne 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. 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."
1983–present: Later roles
Lasser had a recurring role on St. Elsewhere in the mid-1980s as Victor Ehrlich's Aunt Charise, a neurotic comic character. Her 1980s film appearances included Stardust 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 in Sing (1989). In 2014, she directed the Off-Off-Broadway production of Ira Lewis' Chinese Coffee. In 2021, she was reunited with her Mary Hartman co-star Greg Mullavey in a 16-minute film short called Bliss. In 2022, she appeared in Funny Pages, her first role in a theatrical feature film in almost 20 years. Chris Feil of The Daily Beast wrote, "Louise Lasser makes for what is surely the most hilariously bizarre, yet downright frightening one-scene-wonder".
Personal life
Marriage
Lasser married Woody Allen in 1966. Although the couple divorced in 1970, she appeared in five of his films from 1966 to 1980. She said of working with Allen, "I think he's very talented, and really funny, and really serious". She currently lives in Manhattan and runs the Louise Lasser Acting Studio on the Upper East Side. A fictionalized version of the dollhouse incident was also incorporated into Mary Hartman<nowiki/>'s first season.
Legacy and influence
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman offers "Kitchen Sink Theater of the Absurd"
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." 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 former Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman cast and crew members at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. The seminar, entitled Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Reunion, Reunion, was moderated by Steven A. Bell and taped for the museum archives.
In 2004 and 2007, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was ranked No. 21 and No. 26 on TV Guide'<nowiki/>s Top Cult Shows Ever.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
! class="unsortable" | Ref.
|-
| 1966 || What's Up, Tiger Lily? || Suki Yaki || Voice; also writing credit ||
|-
| 1969 || Take the Money and Run || Kay Lewis || ||
|-
| 1963–1971 || The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson || Herself || 8 episodes ||
|-
|1967 || Henry, Sweet Henry || Stella || Palace Theatre, Broadway ||
|-
|1970 || The Chinese || Gladys Hoffman || Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway ||
|-
|1974 || Thieves || Nancy <small>(replacement)</small> || Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway ||
|-
|}
Awards and recognition
In 1967, Lasser became the first woman to win a Clio Award for Best Actress in a Commercial. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble for her participation in the film Happiness.