Madeline Kahn

Madeline Gail Kahn (born Madeline Gail Wolfson on September 29, 1942) was an American actress, comedian, and singer known for her comedic roles in various films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks. She starred in movies such as What's Up, Doc? (1972), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977), and History of the World, Part I (1981). Her crucial contributions to film lead to her Academy Award–nominated roles in Paper Moon (1973) and Blazing Saddles (1974). Kahn also graced Broadway with her debut in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968 and winning the 1993 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the comedy The Sisters Rosensweig. Her career also included television work, such as starring as Madeline Wayne on the short-lived sitcom Oh Madeline (1983–84) and winning a Daytime Emmy Award in 1987 for an ABC Afterschool Special.

Kahn was born in Boston, the daughter of Bernard Wolfson, a garment manufacturer, and his wife, Freda Goldberg. She was raised in a nonobservant Jewish family. Her parents divorced when Kahn was two, and she moved with her mother to New York City. Later on, Freda married Hiller Kahn, who adopted Madeline. She graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, New York, and then earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University, where she studied drama, music, and speech therapy. She graduated from Hofstra in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy. She launched her professional acting career after graduation and took up her stepfather's surname, Kahn, as her professional name. Kahn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1998, continued to work, and married John Hansbury in the summer of 1999. Regrettably, she succumbed to the disease later that year on December 3.