Louise Lasser, TV's Iconic Neurotic on 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,' Dies at 87

July 9, 2026

Louise Lasser, who with her inimitably deadpan performance as Mary Hartman became an unlikely TV icon, has died at 87.

Her Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman co-star Claudia Lamb wrote online, “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.”

Waxy yellow build-up on her kitchen floor is what Lasser’s Mary cared about more than anything in the world, even as everything around her went to hell.

Born April 11, 1939, in NYC, she was raised by parents in a volatile relationship, one that ended in divorce and — later — both parents’ suicides.

Lasser performed improv in Greenwich Village in the ‘60s and was Barbra Streisand’s understudy in I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962), which was a star-maker for Streisand.

She supplemented her income on soaps and commercials for the likes of Viking carpet and Florida Orange Juice, winning a Clio in 1967.

She married Woody Allen in 1966, working with him in his films What’s Up Tiger Lily? (1966), Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*but Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) and Stardust Memories (1980).

Her early films also included Such Good Friends (1971) and Slither (1973), and — much to Allen’s delight — she was in a TV-movie version of Ingmar Bergman’s The Lie (1973).

But things really took off for her as the titular star of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976-1977), a satirical soap the likes of which television had never before seen. Viewers were fascinated five nights a week by the endless tragedy that befell neurotic Mary (“I must have been born under an unlucky star”), who had a nervous breakdown as Season 1 ended.

The show was such a sensation across more than 300 episodes that Lasser was on the cover of Newsweek.

In real life, she was tiring of the show’s shooting schedule, departing as it was repurposed as Forever Fernwood for another half-year. Harman once recalled that her period at the top meant she could walk into any home in America for a meal — but that the intense scrutiny made it feel like a best-of-times-worst-of-times situation.

During this time, she was an early Saturday Night Live host, one who reportedly alienated the cast, leading to her being banned from future appearances. Her episode is notable for featuring almost no interaction with the SNL cast, other than Dan Aykroyd.

She returned to the New York stage and also appeared in the TV movie Just Me and You (1978) with Charles Grodin, written by Lasser herself.Her most memorable post-Mary performances include her work as Alex’s ex-wife on Taxi (1980-1982), as Maggie on a season (1981-1982) on It’s a Living aka Making a Living, a show about waitresses with one of TV’s most frequently revolving casts.

Her later films included Rude Awakening (1989), Sing (1989), the Todd Solondz classic Happiness (1998) and Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000).

Lasser never lost her touch, packing a punch on Girls (2014), in the 2021 short Bliss (with Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman co-star Greg Mullavey) and as a drooling addict in Owen Kline’s bonkers Funny Pages (2022), the latter becoming her swan song.

She is survived by her partner, Michael Citriniti, a producer.⚡️