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Madeline Gail Kahn ( Birth name Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She was 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 Tony Award nominations for the play In the Boom Boom Room in 1974 and for the original production of the musical On the Twentieth Century in 1978. She starred as Madeline Wayne on the short-lived sitcom Oh Madeline (1983–84) and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1987 for an ABC Afterschool Special. She received a third Tony Award nomination for the revival of the play Born Yesterday in 1989, before winning the 1993 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the comedy The Sisters Rosensweig. Her other film appearances included The Cheap Detective (1978), Yellowbeard (1983), City Heat (1984), Clue (1985), and Nixon (1995).
In 1948, Kahn was sent to the progressive Manumit School, a boarding school in Bristol, Pennsylvania. During that time, her mother pursued her acting dream. Kahn soon began acting herself and performed in a number of school productions. In 1960, she graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, New York, 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. 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.
To earn money while a college student, Kahn was a singing waitress at a Bavarian restaurant named Bavarian Manor, a Hofbrau in New York's Hudson Valley. She also sang musical comedy numbers during shows. ( video clip).
In 1968, Kahn performed her first professional lead in a special concert performance of the operetta Candide in honor of Leonard Bernstein's 50th birthday. "Kahn Biography" masterworksbroadway.com, accessed February 13, 2015. She made her Broadway debut in 1968 with Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968 New Faces Production playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015. and also appeared off-Broadway in the musical Promenade. Promenade Production lortel.org, accessed February 13, 2015.
Kahn's film debut was in the 1968 short De Düva (The Dove). Her feature debut was as Ryan O'Neal's character's hysterical fiancée in Peter Bogdanovich's screwball comedy What's Up, Doc? (1972) starring Barbra Streisand. " What's Up, Doc? Production" tcm.com, accessed February 14, 2015. Her film career continued with Bogdanovich's Paper Moon (1973), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Kahn was cast in the role of Agnes Gooch in the 1974 film Mame, but star Lucille Ball fired Kahn due to artistic differences. (Several of Ball's biographies say 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. Kahn stated in a 1996 interview with Charlie Rose that she was fired.) Ball's version was that Kahn had already been offered Blazing Saddles and thus deliberately got herself fired by acting badly in the first few days of shooting for Mame
A close succession of comedies— Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), and High Anxiety (1977)—were all directed by Mel Brooks, who was able to bring out the best of Kahn's comic talents. "Kahn Biography" tcm.com, accessed February 13, 2015. 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. In the April 2006 issue of Premiere, her performance in Blazing Saddles as Lili von Shtupp was selected as number 74 on its list of the 100 greatest performances of all time.
In 1975, Kahn again teamed with 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 failure. At Long Last Love was one of three films in which Kahn worked alongside the character actress Eileen Brennan, the other two being The Cheap Detective and Clue. In that same year, she again teamed with Gene Wilder, this time for his comedy The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. In 1978, Kahn's comic screen persona reached another peak with her portrayal of Mrs. Montenegro in Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective (1978), a spoof of both Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, directed by Robert Moore. That role was followed by a cameo in 1979's The Muppet Movie.
Kahn's roles were primarily comedic rather than dramatic, although the 1970s found her originating roles in two plays that had elements of both: 1973's In the Boom Boom Room on Broadway In the Boom Boom Room Production playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015. and 1977's Marco Polo Sings a Solo off-Broadway. Marco Polo Sings a Solo Production lortel.org, accessed February 13, 2015.
After her success in Brooks' films, Kahn appeared in a number of films in the 1980s. She played Mrs. White in 1985's Clue, First Lady Constance 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), and Draggle in the animated film (1986). 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."
In 1983, Kahn starred in her own short-lived TV sitcom, Oh Madeline, which ended after one season due to poor ratings. In 1986, she starred in ABC Comedy Factory's pilot of Chameleon, which never aired on the fall schedule.Terrace, Vincent. Chamelon Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed., McFarland, 2008, , p. 175. In 1987, Kahn won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance in the ABC Afterschool Special Wanted: The Perfect Guy.
Kahn returned to the stage as Billie Dawn in the 1989 Broadway revival of Born Yesterday, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Born Yesterday Production playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015.
On stage, Kahn played Dr. Gorgeous in Wendy Wasserstein's 1993 Broadway play The Sisters Rosensweig, a role for which she earned a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. "Madeline Kahn, Credits and Awards" playbillvault.com, accessed February 13, 2015. She was a member of the cast of Cosby (1996–1999) as Pauline, the eccentric friend and neighbor.
Kahn participated in a workshop reading of Dear World at the Roundabout Theatre Company in June 1998, reading the part of Gabrielle. " Dear World Reading" roundabouttheatre.org, accessed February 14, 2015. She also voiced Gypsy the moth in A Bug's Life (1998). A Bug's Life Cast nytimes.com, accessed February 13, 2015.
Kahn received good reviews for her turn in the 1999 independent movie Judy Berlin, her final film.Holden, Stephen. Judy Berlin Overview nytimes.com, accessed February 13, 2015. Before her death, she also voiced Mrs. Shapiro on the first two episodes of Little Bill, the second of which ("Just a Baby" / "The Campout") was dedicated to her memory. Kathy Najimy succeeded her in the role following Kahn's death.
She was cremated on December 6, at Garden State Crematory in North Bergen, New Jersey. A bench dedicated to her memory was erected in Central Park by her husband John and her brother Jeffrey. The bench is located near the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir on West 87th Street.
Career
When asked on television by Kitty Carlisle and Charles Nelson Reilly how she began the opera aspect of her career, Kahn 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.
There was a really important customer there, a big Italian man, who shouted out to me 'Sing Madama 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 HallOnline programme Candide November 10, 1968 [2] retrieved 2013-10-17.—at the time that's what it was called.audio clip Philharmonic Hall performance, Nov 1968 retrieved 2013-10-17. 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.
1960s
Kahn began auditioning for professional acting roles shortly after her graduation from Hofstra; on the side, she briefly taught public school. Just before adopting the professional name Madeline Kahn (Kahn was her stepfather's surname), she made her stage debut as a chorus line in a revival of Kiss Me, Kate, "Kahn Milestones" tcm.com, accessed February 13, 2015. which led her to join Actors' Equity. Her part in the musical How Now, Dow Jones was written out before the 1967 show reached Broadway.Mandelbaum, Ken. Not Since Carrie August 15, 1992, Macmillan,, p. 201.
1970s and 1980s
Kahn appeared in two Broadway musicals in the 1970s: a featured role in Richard Rodgers' 1970 Noah's Ark–themed show Two by Two (singing a high C) and a lead turn as Lily Garland in 1978's On the Twentieth Century. She left (or, reportedly, was fired from) the latter show early in its run, yielding the role to understudy Judy Kaye. The New York Times, April 25, 1978, p. 46.Corry, John. "Broadway; Terrence McNally has a comedy about stage due in fall", The New York Times, May 5, 1978, p. C2. 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).Madison, William V. She Loves Me Madeline Kahn: Being the Music, A Life, (books.google.com), Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2015,
Retrieved 4 December 2024.
1990s
Kahn played the mother of Molly Ringwald's character in the 1990 film Betsy's Wedding, " Betsy's Wedding Cast and Crew" tcm.com, accessed March 28, 2015. and shortly after she recorded a voice for the animated movie The Magic 7, which, as of 2024, has still not been released. " The Magic 7 Cast and Crew" tcm.com, accessed March 28, 2015. In 1994, she portrayed suicide hotline worker Blanche Munchnik in the holiday farce Mixed Nuts. Kahn played the corrupt mayor in a benefit concert performance of Anyone Can Whistle in 1995. " "Anyone Can Whistle' Concert, 1995" sondheimguide.com, accessed February 13, 2015. She appeared in Nixon as Martha Beall Mitchell (1995). Nixon Cast nytimes.com, accessed February 13, 2015.
Illness and death
Kahn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September 1998. She underwent treatment, continued to work on Cosby, and married John Hansbury in October 1999. Variety, p. 7, December 6, 1999. However, the disease spread rapidly, and she died on December 3, 1999, at age 57.
Filmography
Film
Short subject Voice Gussie Mausheimer Voice Final film role
Television
TV movie 2 episodes Episode: #10.4 3 episodes Episode 209 12 episodes Episode 35 19 episodes; Also creator, producer, and writer Episode 6: "Chameleon" 14 episodes TV special Episode: "It's Just a Stage" Season 1, episode 1 " Lucky Luke Cast" imdb.com, accessed February 14, 2015. TV movie Episode: "More Stately Mansions"Goudas, John N. A Look Inside Vonnegut's 'Monkey House'" LA Times, February 21, 1993. Monkey House Cast and Episodes" imdb.com, accessed February 14, 2015. VHS special 13 episodes TV movie TV movieKoehler, Robert. "NBC Puts 'London Suite' Through a 'Seinfeld' Filter" LA Times, September 14, 1996. 84 episodes Ep: "Just a Baby/The Campout"
Theater
Concert, Off-Broadway Upstairs at the Downstairs, Off-Broadway Mixed Doubles Below the Belt Lunt-Fontaine Theatre, Broadway New York Concert, Off-Broadway Booth Theatre, Broadway Promenade Theatre, Off-Broadway Imperial Theatre, Broadway Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway Town Hall Concert The Public Theatre, Off-Broadway St. James Theatre, Broadway Santa Fe Festival Theater "Madeline Kahn of Manhattan Is Now on a Santa Fe High and That Town's Blithest Spirit" People Magazine, accessed May 17, 2020. Manhattan Theatre Club, Broadway 46th Street Theatre, Broadway Limited Tour " Hello, Dolly!, Tour" ovrtur.com, accessed February 14, 2015. Concert at Carnegie Hall "Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall" sondheimguide.com, accessed February 14, 2015. Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway Concert at Carnegie Hall Roundabout Theatre Company Workshop " Dear World 1998 Workshop Cast"
broadwayworld.com, accessed February 14, 2015.
Awards and nominations
1973 Golden Globe Award New Star Actress of the Year What's Up, Doc? Kahn list hfpa.org, accessed February 15, 2015. 1974 Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Paper Moon Academy Award Best Supporting Actress Kahn listing awardsdatabase.oscars.org, accessed February 15, 2015. Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance In the Boom Boom Room Tony Award Best Actress in a Play 1975 Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Young Frankenstein Academy Award Best Supporting Actress Blazing Saddles 1978 Tony Award Best Actress in a Musical On the Twentieth Century 1984 Golden Globe Award Best Actress - Television Musical or Comedy Oh Madeline People's Choice Award Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Series 1987 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming ABC Afterschool Special: Wanted: The Perfect Guy 1989 Tony Award Best Actress in a Play Born Yesterday 1993 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play The Sisters Rosensweig Tony Award Best Actress in a Play 2003 American Theatre Hall of Fame
External links
Categories: 1942 Births, 1999 Deaths, 20th-century American Actresses, 20th-century American Comedians, 20th-century American Jews, 20th-century American Singers, 20th-century American Women Singers, Actresses From Boston, Actresses From New York City, American Film Actresses, Jews From Massachusetts, Jews From New York, American Musical Theatre Actresses, American Stage Actresses, American Television Actresses, American Voice Actresses, American Women Comedians, Comedians From Boston, Comedians From New York City, Daytime Emmy Award Winners, Deaths From Ovarian Cancer In New York, Drama Desk Award Winners, Hofstra University Alumni, Jewish American Actresses, Jewish American Comedians, Jewish Women Comedians, Martin Van Buren High School Alumni, Tony Award Winners
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