Carol Kane

Carol Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She gained recognition for her role in Hester Street, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Annie Hall (1977), When a Stranger Calls (1979), The Princess Bride (1987), Scrooged (1988) and Flashback (1990).

Kane appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s as Simka Gravas, the wife of Latka (played by Andy Kaufman), winning two Emmy Awards for her work. She has played the character of Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked, both in touring productions and on Broadway from 2005 to 2014. From 2015 to 2020, she was a main cast member on the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in which she played Lillian Kaushtupper. She currently plays the recurring role of Pelia in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023present).

Early life Kane was born on June 18, 1952, in Cleveland, the daughter of Joy, a jazz singer, teacher, dancer, and pianist, and architect Michael Kane. Her family is Jewish, and her grandparents emigrated from Russia, Austria, and Poland. Due to her father's occupation, Kane moved frequently as a child; she briefly lived in Paris at age eight, where she began learning to speak French. Additionally, she resided in Haiti at age 10.

She attended the Cherry Lawn School, a boarding school in Darien, Connecticut, until 1965. She studied theater at HB Studio and also went to the Professional Children's School in New York City. She became a member of both the Screen Actors Guild and the Actors' Equity Association at age 14. Kane made her professional theater debut in a 1966 production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie starring Tammy Grimes, her first job as a member of Actors' Equity.

Despite this recognition, however, Kane has recounted waiting for approximately a year before being cast in her next role, which she has attributed to the trend of actors being typecast after receiving awards attention. Her return to the screen would come with Gene Wilder's 1977 comedy The World's Greatest Lover, which she has credited for identifying the comedic talents that would become her staple in later years. In 1979, she also appeared in a cameo role in The Muppet Movie, as well as played an emotionally dependent and childish American woman in La Sabina. For her performance in the latter she won the CEC Award for Best Supporting Actress.

1980–1990: Taxi and transition into comedy From 1980 to 1983, Kane portrayed Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, the wife of Andy Kaufman's character Latka Gravas, on the American television series Taxi. She has theorized that she was cast in Taxi in part due to her work in Hester Street, where a significant portion of her dialogue was spoken in Yiddish, since Simka speaks a fictional language with a vaguely Eastern European accent.

Kane has attributed the on-screen rapport she shared with Kaufman to their different work ethics: where she was trained in the theater and enjoyed rehearsal time, Kaufman was rooted more in stand-up comedy and did not care for rehearsals, a contrast that she believes enhanced their believability as a married couple. Her role on the series has largely been credited as the beginning of her pivot towards more comedic roles, as she began to regularly appear in sitcoms and comedy films after the series ended.

In 1984, Kane appeared in episode 12, season 3 of Cheers as Amanda, an acquaintance of Diane Chambers from her time spent in a mental institution. She was also a regular on the 1986 series All Is Forgiven.

In 1987, Kane appeared in Ishtar, Elaine May's notorious box-office flop turned cult classic, playing the frustrated girlfriend of Dustin Hoffman's character. That year also saw her make one of her most recognizable film appearances in Rob Reiner's fantasy romance The Princess Bride, where she played Valerie, the wife of Miracle Max (Billy Crystal). In 1988, Kane appeared in the Cinemax Comedy Experiment Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card alongside Jon Cryer and the Smothers Brothers. During the same year, she was also featured in the Bill Murray vehicle Scrooged, where she portrayed a contemporary version of the Ghost of Christmas Present, depicted in the film as a fairy. For this performance, Variety called her "unquestionably [the] pic's comic highlight". Additionally, she played a potential love interest for Steve Martin's character in the 1990 film My Blue Heaven.

1990–2004: Television and film regularity Kane became a regular on the NBC series American Dreamer, which ran from 1990 to 1991. In 1993, she appeared in Addams Family Values where she replaced Judith Malina as Grandmama Addams; this role saw her reunite with her Taxi castmate Christopher Lloyd. She also guest starred on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld, as well as a 1996 episode of Ellen. In 1996, she was given a supporting role in the short-lived sitcom Pearl. From there, she continued to appear in a number of film roles throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including The Pallbearer (1996), Office Killer (1997), Jawbreaker (1999), and My First Mister (2001). In 1998, she voiced Mother Duck in the American version of the animated television film The First Snow of Winter.

In 1999, she made a cameo in the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon as herself playing the Taxi character.

2005–2014: Wicked and career expansion Kane is also known for her portrayal of the evil headmistress Madame Morrible in the Broadway musical Wicked, whom she played in various productions from 2005 to 2014. Kane made her Wicked debut on the 1st National Tour, playing the role from March 9 through December 19, 2005. She then reprised the role in the Broadway production from January 10 through November 12, 2006. She again played the role for the Los Angeles production which began performances on February 7, 2007. She left the production on December 30, 2007, and later returned on August 26, 2008, until the production closed on January 11, 2009.

In January 2009, she guest starred in the television series Two and a Half Men as the mother of Alan Harper's receptionist.

She then transferred with the Los Angeles company of Wicked to reprise her role once again, this time in the San Francisco production, which began performances January 27, 2009. She ended her limited engagement on March 22, 2009.

In March 2010, Kane appeared in the ABC series Ugly Betty as Justin Suarez's acting teacher.

Kane starred in the off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore in February 2010. She made her West End debut in January 2011 in a major revival of Lillian Hellman's drama The Children's Hour at London's Comedy Theatre, where she starred alongside Keira Knightley, Elisabeth Moss and Ellen Burstyn. In May 2012, Kane appeared on Broadway as Betty Chumley in a revival of the play Harvey.

Kane returned to the Broadway company of Wicked from July 1, 2013, through February 22, 2014, a period that included the show's 10th anniversary.

In 2014, she was cast in a recurring role on the television series Gotham as Gertrude Kapelput, the Hungarian-born mother of Oswald Cobblepot, also known as Penguin.

2015–present: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and legacy roles In 2015, Kane was cast in the recurring role of Lillian Kaushtupper, the landlord to the title character of the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Kane joined the cast due in part to her admiration of showrunner Tina Fey, with whom she had previously wanted to collaborate on the NBC series 30 Rock. She was promoted to a series regular for the show's second season. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt ran for four seasons, making it one of Kane's longest television roles to date. She reprised the role in the "interactive" television special Kimmy vs the Reverend.

In 2018, Kane was cast in Jacques Audiard's Western film The Sisters Brothers. In 2019, she appeared in Jim Jarmusch's horror comedy The Dead Don't Die, marking another collaboration with Bill Murray. That same year, she was featured in the recurring role of Bianca Nova in season one of the HBO series Los Espookys, where she reunited with her Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt castmate Fred Armisen.

In 2020, Kane was featured in the ensemble cast of the Amazon series Hunters, which also includes her longtime acquaintance Al Pacino.

It was announced on Star Trek Day 2022 that Kane would join the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for season two as Chief Engineer Pelia. Prior to her casting, Kane had never seen an episode of the original Star Trek series, though she has said the show's writers thought this oversight improved her performance.

In 2024, Kane starred in Nathan Silver's comedy film Between the Temples, in which she portrays a woman who, having been raised by secular parents, decides to have a bat mitzvah later in life. Kane has stated that she drew inspiration from Silver's mother, who studied for a bat mitzvah in her sixties; she was also inspired by her own mother, who, at age 55, moved to Paris to become a musician. For her work in the film, she received the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, and was nominated for Best Supporting Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Personal life Kane was in a relationship with actor Woody Harrelson from 1986 to 1988. The two have remained friends since their break-up, and Harrelson was seen attending Kane's 60th birthday party in 2012.

She has never been married or had any children. Regarding the latter decision, she has said, "I never felt that I would be calm and stable enough to be the kind of mother I'd like to be. I don't think everyone randomly is mother material."

A documentary about Kane and her 98-year-old mother Joy premiered in 2025, titled Carol & Joy.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1971 Desperate Characters Young Girl Carnal Knowledge Jennifer 1972 Wedding in White Jeannie Dougall ...and Hope to Die (aka. ) Scenes cut from finished film 1973 The Last Detail Young Whore 1975 Hester Street Gitl Dog Day Afternoon Jenny 1976 Harry and Walter Go to New York Florence 1977 Annie Hall Allison Portchnik Valentino Jean Acker The World's Greatest Lover Annie Hickman 1978 The Mafu Cage Cissy 1979 The Muppet Movie Myth When a Stranger Calls Jill Johnson La Sabina Daisy 1981 The Games of Countess Dolingen Louise Haines-Pearson Strong Medicine 1982 Pandemonium Candy Norman Loves Rose Rose 1983 Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? Customer at Cafe 1984 Over the Brooklyn Bridge Cheryl Racing with the Moon Annie the Hooker The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud Martha Bernays Terror in the Aisles Jill Johnson (archival footage) Documentary film 1985 Transylvania 6-5000 Lupi 1986 Jumpin' Jack Flash Cynthia 1987 Ishtar Carol The Princess Bride Valerie 1988 Sticky Fingers Kitty License to Drive Mrs. Anderson Scrooged Ghost of Christmas Present 1990 The Lemon Sisters Franki D'Angelo Flashback Maggie Joe Versus the Volcano Hairdresser cameo My Blue Heaven Shaldeen 1991 Ted & Venus Colette 1992 In the Soup Barbara Baby on Board Maria The Real Story of Here Comes the Bride Margaret Mouse Voice role 1993 Even Cowgirls Get the Blues Carla Addams Family Values Grandmama 1994 The Crazysitter Treva Van Arsdale 1995 Theodore Rex Molly Rex Direct-to-video, voice role 1996 Big Bully Faith American Strays Helen Sunset Park Mona The Pallbearer Mrs. Thompson Trees Lounge Connie 1997 Gone Fishin' Donna Waters Office Killer Dorine Douglas 1998 The Tic Code Miss Gimpole 1999 Jawbreaker Principal Sherwood Man on the Moon Herself/Simka Dahblitz The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald Org's mother Short film, voice role 2000 The Office Party Linda Short film 2001 D.C. Smalls Mother Short film My First Mister Mrs. Benson The Shrink Is In Dr. Louise Rosenberg Tomorrow by Midnight Officer Garfield 2002 Love in the Time of Money Joey 2003 Cosmopolitan Mrs. Shaw 2004 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen Miss Baggoli 2005 The Pacifier Helga The Civilization of Maxwell Bright Temple The Happy Elf Gilda Voice role 2008 Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five Sheep Voice role Four Christmases Aunt Sarah Uncredited 2010 The Bounty Hunter Dawn My Girlfriend's Boyfriend Barbara Pete Smalls Is Dead Landlady 2011 The Key Man Marsha 2012 Sleepwalk with Me Linda Pandamiglio Should've Been Romeo Ruth Thanks for Sharing Roberta 2013 Clutter Linda Bradford 2014 Emoticon ;) Hannah Song 2015 Ava's Possessions Talia 2018 The Sisters Brothers Mrs. Sisters Ghost Light Madeline Styne 2019 The Dead Don't Die Mallory O'Brien 2022 iMordecai Fela 2023 Migration Erin Voice role2024 Between the Temples Carla Kessler Also executive producer Boundary Springs Granny2025 Caught Stealing Bubbe All Yiddish role Carol & Joy Herself Documentary short 2026 Roommates Gigi Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1974 We, the Woman Susannah White TV movie 1978 Visions Episode: "Fans of the Kosko Show" 1978 Great Performances Eliza Southgate Out of Our Father's House (anthology series - play 1980 The Greatest Man in the World April TV movie 1980, 1982–1983 Taxi Simka Dahblitz / Simka Dahblitz-Gravas Guest episodes (seasons 2, 4), main cast (season 5) 1981 Great Performances Frances Loomis Episode: "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses and Other Stories" 1982 Laverne & Shirley Olga Episode: "Jinxed" 1983 An Invasion of Privacy Ilene Cohen TV movie American Playhouse Lavinia Episode: "Keeping On" Faerie Tale Theatre The "Good" Fairy Episode: "Sleeping Beauty" 1984 Burning Rage Mary Harwood TV movie Cheers Amanda Boyer Episode: "A Ditch in Time" 1985 Tales from the Darkside Anne MacColl Episode: "Snip, Snip" Crazy Like a Fox Episode: "Bum Tip" 1986 Tall Tales & Legends Barbara Episode: "Casey at the Bat" All Is Forgiven Nicolette Bingham Main cast 1987 Paul Reiser Out on a Whim Fortune Teller TV movie 1988 Drop-Out Mother Maxine TV movie Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card TV movie 1989 Sesame Street Nina the Nice Episode: "Bob accompanies Oscar to Grouchytown" 1990 Tales from the Crypt Judy Episode: "Judy, You're Not Yourself Today" Tiny Toon Adventures Ollie Episode: "A Quack in the Quarks" (voice role) 1990–1991 American Dreamer Lillian Abernathy Main cast 1991–1992 Brooklyn Bridge Aunt Sylvia 5 episodes 1992 Sibs Sally Episodes: "The Crash: Part 1", "The Crash: Part 2" The Ray Bradbury Theater Polly Episode: "Tomorrow's Child" 1993 When a Stranger Calls Back Jill Johnson TV movie TriBeCa Amanda Episode: "Stepping Back" Eligible Dentist TV movie 1994 Seinfeld Corinne Episode: "The Marine Biologist"All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! Nina the NiceTV special, Sesame Street All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!, archival footage Aladdin Brawnhilda Episodes: "Stinkerbelle", "Smells Like Trouble" (voice role) Empty Nest Shelby Episode: "The Courtship of Carol's Father" 1995 A.J.'s Time Travelers Emily Roebling Episode: "Brooklyn Bridge" Dad, the Angel & Me The Angel TV movie Napoleon Spider TV movie, (voice role, English version) Freaky Friday Leanne Futterman TV movie 1996 Chicago Hope Marguerite Birch Episode: "Stand" Ellen Lily Penney Episode: "A Penney Saved" 1996–1997 Pearl Annie Caraldo Main cast 1997 Hey Arnold! Emily Dickinson Trophy Episode: "Freeze Frame/Phoebe Cheats" (voice role) The Tony Danza Show Simka Gravas Episode: "The Milk Run" Homicide: Life on the Street Gwen Munch Episode: "All Is Bright" Merry Christmas, George Bailey Cousin Tilly/Mrs. Hatch TV movie 1998 The First Seven Years Mrs. Feld TV short Adventures from the Book of Virtues The Beetle Episode: "Patience" (voice role) Noddy Tooth Fairy Episode: "The Tooth Fairy" 1999 Noah's Ark Sarah TV movie Blue's Clues Little Miss Muffet Episode: "Blue's Big Treasure Hunt" (voice role) 1999–2000 Beggars and Choosers Lydia Luddin 3 episodes 2000 As Told by Ginger Maude Episodes: "I Spy a Witch"; "Carl and Maude" (voice role) 2001 Family Guy Carol Episode: "Emission Impossible" (voice role) 2002 That's Life Gloria Episode: "Baum's Thesis" The Grubbs Sophie Grubb Episode: "Pilot" 2003 Audrey's Rain Missy Flanders TV movie 2004 Hope & Faith Cornelia Rackett Episode: "Faith Scare-Field" 2005 The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Mrs. Claus Episode: "Billy and Mandy Save Christmas" (voice role) 2006 The Year Without a Santa Claus Mother Nature TV movie, cameo 2009 Two and a Half Men Shelly Episodes: "Thank God for Scoliosis"; "David Copperfield Slipped Me a Roofie" Monk Joy Episode: "Mr. Monk Is the Best Man" 2009, 2013 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Gwen Munch Episodes: "Zebras", "Wonderland Story" 2010 Ugly Betty Lena Korvinka Episode: "All the World's a Stage" 2011 Dora the Explorer Grandma Troll Episode: "The Grumpy Old Troll Gets Married" (voice role) 2011–2012 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Sea Witch 2 episodes (voice role) 2011–2014 Phineas and Ferb Nana Shapiro 2 episodes (voice role) 2013 Girls Cloris Episode: "It's Back" Anger Management Carol Episode: "Charlie and His New Friend with Benefits" 2014–2016 Gotham Gertrud Kapelput Recurring role (seasons 1–2) 2015–2019 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Lillian Kaushtupper Main cast 2016 Crowded Linda Episode: "Given to Fly" 2017 Halt and Catch Fire Denise Episode: "Ten of Swords" Star vs. the Forces of Evil Dr. Jelly Goodwell Episode: "Princess Turdina/Starfari" (voice role) 2017–2019 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Ginger 2 episodes (voice role) 2018 Pinkalicious & Peterrific Edna 3 episodes (voice role) Animals Chompy 2 episodes (voice role) 2018–2021 F Is for Family Marilyn Chilson 5 episodes (voice role) Vampirina Madame Spook 2 episodes (voice role) 2018–2019 Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Madam Canardist 3 episodes (voice role) 2019 Los Espookys Bianca Nova Recurring role (season 1) Bubble Guppies The Sea Witch Episode: "The New Guppy!" (voice role) Big Mouth The Menopause Banshee Episode: "Florida" (voice role) Summer Camp Island Barb Junior Episode: "The Great Elf Invention Convention" (voice role) 2020 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend Lillian Kaushtupper TV movie 2020–2023 Hunters Mindy Markowitz Main cast 2022 Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience Grand-Mah TV movie (voice role) The Simpsons Blythe Episode: "Step Brother from the Same Planet" (voice role) 2023–2026 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Pelia Recurring role 2024Dinner with the Parents Nana Main cast Monster High Ghoul-ma Vondergeist Episode: "Ghoulishly Ghoulma" (voice role) 2024–2025 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Bube Bina 3 episodes (voice role)2025 Super Duper Bunny League Captain Stickybeard Episode: "Space Pirates!" (voice role)Poker Face Lucille Lunbinski Episode: "Hometown Hero" It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Samantha Episode: "The Golden Bachelor Live" Happy's Place Theresa Episode: "Izzy and the Professor"

Stage

Music videos YearTitleArtist(s)1985"This Is My Night"Chaka Khan

Awards and nominations