Louise Lasser

Louise Jane Lasser (April 11, 1939 – July 6, 2026) was an American actress, television writer, and performing arts teacher and director. She was known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

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). Lasser hosted Saturday Night Live in 1976 and had guest roles on The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Laverne and Shirley, and St. Elsewhere.

Lasser's later roles included 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 was 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 was 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 died by suicide.

Career

1962–1975: Collaborations with Woody Allen

Lasser 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. She also acted on the soap opera The Doctors and in television commercials. In 1967, Lasser became the first woman to win a Clio Award for Best Actress in a Commercial.

She acted in numerous Woody Allen films, including his early slapstick comedies Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972). She also served as a voice actor for Allen's 1966 spoof dubbing of the Japanese comedy spy movie Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (International Secret Police: Key of Keys), retitled What's Up Tiger Lily?

Lasser cited Allen as "a tremendous influence — but it's the influence to make me be me.... I remember the day he said, 'I do jokes ... your comedy is attitude.

Her other 1970s comedic turns in cinema include Such Good Friends (1971) and Slither (1973).

Allen wrote an unaired TV pilot called The Laughmakers (1962), starring Lasser and Alan Alda as improvisational comics. Lasser and Alda were also paired in James L. Brooks' 1972 unsold pilot Class of '55, and they later worked together in the 1973 TV movie mystery Isn't It Shocking?

On television, she also earned credits on Love, American Style (1971), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973). She 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.

1976–1977: Breakthrough 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 that 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.

Of her brief yet memorable time on the series, Lasser surmised: "I could go into anyone's kitchen in America and have dinner. It was the best and worst of times." Of her beleaguered alter ego Mary, Lasser remarked: "She was like a survivor that lived in a world that might not be worth surviving in."

Saturday Night Live host On July 24, 1976, Lasser hosted the penultimate episode of Saturday Night Live 's first season. Her performance is best known for her opening monologue in which she re-created a Mary Hartman-esque nervous breakdown and locked 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 denied that she was ever forbidden to come back. Lasser also asserted that her SNL antics, which included 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."

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).

Her 1990s films included Frankenhooker (1990), The Night We Never Met (1993), Sudden Manhattan (1996), Layin' Low (1996), and as the mother of the three main female characters in Todd Solondz's film Happiness (1998). Lasser won the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble for her participation in the film Happiness.

She appeared in Mystery Men (1999) as the mother of Hank Azaria's character. She also had roles in Darren Aronofsky's film Requiem for a Dream (2000), the romantic comedy Fast Food Fast Women (2000), and co-starred with Renée Taylor in National Lampoon's Gold Diggers (2003).

Lasser acted in two episodes of HBO's Girls as a Manhattan artist for the series's third season (2014).

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, teaching and directing In addition to being an actress, Lasser was a faculty member of HB Studio, where she taught acting technique, and she eventually ran her own Louise Lasser Acting Studio on the Upper East Side.

Marriage and relationships Lasser married Woody Allen in 1966. They had no children together. 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". Allen, in turn, called Lasser “charming, smart as a whip, quick, very funny and witty”.

The dollhouse incident In the spring of 1976, Lasser was arrested at a Los Angeles charity boutique. Police found $6 worth (or 88 milligrams) of cocaine in her purse. Authorities were called after Lasser's American Express card was denied and she refused to leave without possession of a $150 dollhouse. Lasser was initially apprehended for two unpaid traffic tickets (one for jaywalking), but the officers then found the cocaine in her handbag. She claimed a fan had given her the drug several months earlier.

Lasser was ordered to six months in counseling, which was easily satisfied as she was already seeing an analyst. A fictionalized version of the "dollhouse incident" was also incorporated into Mary Hartman 's first season.

Death Lasser died at her home in Manhattan on July 6, 2026, at the age of 87.

Tributes On social media, Girls creator Lena Dunham called Lasser "a canon, the prototype...one of the best". Lasser's friend and co-star Renée Taylor quipped on Instagram: "She’s busy keeping God laughing forever." Claudia Lamb, who played Lasser's daughter on MH2, wrote: "I am stunned and grieving. Louise Lasser is no longer with us. Raise a glass to the genius who created Mary Hartman and her waxy yellow build-up."

Legacy and influence Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman offers "Kitchen Sink Theater of the Absurd" featuring a Candide-esque TV-watching housewife who, in one signature episode, brings a sick neighbor a bowl of chicken soup, only to have him fall asleep and drown in it.

Of this post-Watergate, existential satirical comedy-drama, author Claire Barliant writes: "It’s both ahead of its time and decidedly of it"; while Lasser herself said, "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."

In 1976, Ted Morgan wrote in The New York Times: "No longer merely a television program, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman has become a cultural event...to help us explain ourselves." Claire Barliant further writes: "The seventies nervous breakdown coincides with women's lib and a strengthening gay rights movement. MH2 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."

Lasser herself also became a cultural touchstone. As the series' figurehead, she aptly embodied both the insanity and enlightenment of the epoch. MSN.com encapsulated her legacy with: "The character of Mary Hartman, with her pigtails, collared blouse, and blue smock dress, became emblematic of 1970s television's experimentation with satire and serialized storytelling. Lasser's performance, balancing humor with a portrayal of entrapment in mundane life, was praised by critics and marked by a memorable first-season breakdown scene. Her distinctive style and ability to navigate both comedic and dramatic material influenced television narratives and inspired later performers."

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 's Top Cult Shows Ever.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 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 (replacement) Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway

Awards and recognition In 1967, Lasser became the first woman to win a Clio Award for Best Actress in a Commercial.