Woody Allen's ex-wife and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman star Louise Lasser dies
Louise Lasser - most famous for starring in soap opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman - passed away at her home in Manhattan on Monday (06Jul26) from natural causes, her friend Susan Charlotte told The Hollywood Reporter.
Woody Allen’s second wife Louise Lasser has died aged 87.
The actress - most famous for starring in soap opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman - passed away at her home in Manhattan on Monday (06Jul26) from natural causes, her friend Susan Charlotte told The Hollywood Reporter.
Lasser first began her work with Allen in 1962 on the pilot of sitcom The Laughmakers, which he wrote, but the episode ended up going unaired.
She had a guest role on daytime drama The Doctors in 1965, before taking on an uncredited part in What’s New Pussycat?.
Her collaboration with Allen continued on his 1966 movie debut What’s Up, Tiger Lily?, before Lasser went on to star in the director’s films Take the Money and Run in 1969, Bananas in 1971 and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask in 1972.
The pair were also married between 1966 to 1970.
However, Lasser’s most respected role came in the Norman Lear produced Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which told the story of a 1970s housewife.
It ran for 325 episodes and earned Lasser an Emmy nomination, for Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement.
Her Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman co-star Mary Kay Place won an Emmy award for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1977.
Speaking about the popularity of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lasser told Interview magazine back in 2013: “I always thought it was a really good show because it touched so many aspects of everything.
“It’s sort of up and down and in and out, and before you know it, there you are. And then it itched such rich subjects, do you know what I mean?
“People always say it’s way ahead of its time. I never thought it was ahead of its time. I always thought it was of its time.”
Lasser’s screen credits also include The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Love Story and Medical Center.
More recently, she had a recurring role in Lena Dunham’s Girls, appearing in three episodes from 2014 to 2015.
Her last big screen appearance came in 2022 comedy Funny Pages.
