Linda Lavin Dies: ‘Alice’ Star & Tony-Winning Broadway Actor Was 87

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by rcbrad

I remember a TV Guide article that came out during the first season that briefly talked about Polly and Linda's tensions on the set. One or both actresses told the other to take a nap when tensions arose. In an interview with Diane Ladd when she was considering the Belle role she had heard about tensions on the set, but she claimed that Warner Bros had lied to her that it was not true. When Polly left, she patted Diane on the head and said good luck in a sarcastic fashion. There was tension between the cast and Polly and it carried through with Diane, with Diane also being on one side divided from the other cast members. Diane was paid big money for her role, but she wanted out after one season, as she said life is too short. Diane felt pushed into all of this tension and thought an unhappy actress was not good for the show. Diane went on to say that Linda was very competitive, not always cooperative and perhaps felt threatened from the powers that be. So, we should conclude that yes, the set had its difficulties. As talented as Linda was, I wonder if the show would have been as big of a hit without Polly and her characterization of Flo.

I forgot and did not realize that Diane did not even finish season 5. She only did up to episode 16. In episode 17 its explained she is back in Tennessee and the new waitress was introduced. You know things must have been really bad to not even finish the season.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by JR1

RIP, Linda. This was a surprise. in that it was not known that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Do we know if she was ever a smoker?

She apparently was:

Miscellaneous information

• smoked during Broadway production of Cakewalk, Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 7, '96

Proof she has smoked (or quit) "in real life"

• "I wish I could stop smoking", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 4, '92
• "she'd just portrayed another tough-minded writer, Lillian Hellman, in 'Cakewalk' in 1996. Lavin says that although she found it thrilling to play Hellman, 'she just about killed me! She died when she was 87, and she was still smoking in the hospital with the oxygen tank attached to her mouth and nose. I did a great deal of smoking during that play' ... Now, with a few years of distance, Lavin says she's glad the role of Ruth Steiner has come into her life again. And apparently she's also recovered from the smoke-a-thon; her lunch arrives with sides Hellman herself might have requested: vodka, two olives and two cigarettes daintily delivered on a saucer", Los Angeles Times, Jun. 3, '99
• netizen, c. '00