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… 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.
We believe privacy is a right, not a trade-off. Choose exactly what you're comfortable with. You can change these any time. Full privacy policy.
Essential
Always on
Required for the site to function
Session management, security tokens, login state, and your cookie preference itself. These cannot be turned off. No personal data is shared with third parties.
Analytics
Optional
Helps us understand what content you enjoy
We use anonymised analytics (e.g. Google Analytics) to see which articles perform well, how long people spend reading, and where traffic comes from. This helps us write better content. Your IP address is anonymised and no data is sold.
Personalisation
Optional
Remembers your preferences across visits
Remembers your reading preferences and recently read articles so we can surface relevant content. All data stays in your browser — nothing is sent to our servers.
Advertising
Optional
Used to show relevant ads that support the site
Allows advertising partners to show you ads based on your interests. If you decline, you'll still see ads but they won't be tailored to you. We work with Google AdSense and similar networks. You can opt out globally at youronlinechoices.eu.
Continue reading
You're clearly a fan
Get the best stories in your inbox
Join thousands of readers who get XOTLIST delivered daily. No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime.
