Louise Lasser, Iconic Star of ‘Mary Hartman,’ Dies at Age 87

Emmy-nominated actress Louise Lasser, best known for her role as the title character in the cult television series “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” has died at age 87.

Lasser passed away on Monday from natural causes. Her friend Susan Charlotte confirmed the death to multiple media outlets.

The show, a groundbreaking satirical soap opera created by Norman Lear and broadcast from 1976 to 1977, became one of Lasser’s defining career achievements. In her role as the pigtail-wearing Ohio housewife, she navigated increasingly bizarre circumstances alongside actors Greg Mullavey, Mary Kay Place, and Graham Jarvis.

In a 2013 interview with Interview Magazine, Lasser recalled the series: “I think it’s a really good show, I always thought it was a really good show because it touches so many aspects of everything. It’s sort of up and down and in and out… People always say it’s way ahead of its time. I never thought it was ahead of its time. I always thought it was of its time.”

Lasser maintained a prolific television career spanning decades, hosting a 1976 episode of “Saturday Night Live” and appearing on shows including “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “Taxi,” and “St. Elsewhere.” She later earned a three-episode guest role as the character Beadie on HBO’s “Girls” in 2014.

Her life was closely intertwined with filmmaker Woody Allen, whom she married from 1966 to 1970. Lasser met Allen in the early 1960s and appeared in his unaired television pilot “The Laughmakers,” alongside Alan Alda and Sandy Baron. She also starred in several of his films, including a voice role in 1966’s “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?” and roles in “Take the Money and Run” (1969), “Bananas” (1971), and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know…” (1972).

Lasser appeared in films such as the 2000 drama “Requiem for a Dream” and the 2022 comedy-drama “Funny Pages.” Born in Manhattan on April 11, 1939, she was raised in the Bronx. She was the daughter of finance author Sol Jay Lasser and designer Paula Eisenreich Lasser.

Lasser attended Brandeis University but dropped out to study acting under legendary coach Sanford Meisner. During her peak television career, she faced media scrutiny following a drug arrest in May 1976. While shopping at an antiques boutique in Beverly Hills, officers discovered 80 milligrams of cocaine in her purse. Lasser claimed the substance was given by a fan and that she had forgotten it was there, resulting in six months of probation and mandated psychiatric treatment.

Lasser is survived by her partner, Michael Citriniti.