Lainie Kazan began her career in the Broadway musical Funny Girl, where she played a Ziegfeld showgirl and understudied the leading lady, Barbra Streisand. She finally got her chance to go on in the title role a year and a half after its Broadway opening. Lainie has also appeared on Broadway in The Government Inspector with Tony Randall, and My Favorite Year with Tim Curry (Tony Award nomination). Regional credits include: A Little Night Music, The Rink, Man of La Mancha, The Rose Tattoo, Gypsy, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, Orpheus Descending, Plaza Suite, and Bermuda Avenue Triangle with Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor.
Her film credits include: My Favorite Year (Golden Globe Nomination), Coppola’s One From The Heart, Spielberg’s Harry and the Hendersons, Paul Bartel’s Lust in the Dust, Delta Force, Beaches, The Cemetery Club, The Big Hit, The Associate, The Crew, What’s Cooking?, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bratz, Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and Pixels, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. Most recently, Tango Shalom is the #1 Indie Film Release of the Summer in 2021.
Lainie’s television credits include: St. Elsewhere (Emmy Nomination), The Paper Chase (CableACE Award Nomination), The Nanny, Will & Grace, My Big Fat Greek Life, Ugly Betty, a guest-starring, multi-episodic arc on Desperate Housewives, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, and the Disney Channel series Jessie. Most recently she guest-starred on The Kominsky Method and Fuller House.