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Louise Lasser, Star of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Dies at 87

Her passing highlights how a five-nights-a-week syndicated satire expanded the range of television comedy.

Overview

  • Lasser died of natural causes at her Manhattan home on Monday, a detail confirmed to multiple outlets by her friend Susan Charlotte and first posted publicly by co-star Claudia Lamb.
  • She was 87 and is survived by her longtime partner, Michael Citriniti; no public details about services or estate statements have been released yet.
  • Lasser’s signature role was the title character on Norman Lear’s Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which ran roughly 325 episodes across 1976–77, aired five nights a week, and earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination.
  • Her six-decade career began on Broadway and included early collaborations and film roles with Woody Allen and later character work in films such as Requiem for a Dream and Funny Pages and in television including HBO’s Girls.
  • Coverage and tributes note Lasser’s very public 1976 controversies—an SNL hosting and a drug-related arrest—that were folded into the show’s material and shaped her public image as much as her performance did.