Madeline Gail Kahn was an American actress, comedian and singer. She made her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1968. Received Tony Award nominations for the play In the Boom Boom Room in 1974 and for the original production of the musical On the Twentieth Century in 1978. She starred as Madeline Wayne on the short-lived sitcom Oh Madeline.
About Madeline Kahn in brief
Madeline Gail Kahn was an American actress, comedian and singer. She made her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1968. She received Tony Award nominations for the play In the Boom Boom Room in 1974 and for the original production of the musical On the Twentieth Century in 1978. She starred as Madeline Wayne on the short-lived sitcom Oh Madeline and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1987 for an ABC Afterschool Special. She won a third Tony Award nomination for the revival of the play Born Yesterday in 1989, before winning the 1993 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the comedy The Sisters Rosensweig. Kahn was born in Boston, the daughter of Bernard B. Wolfson, a garment manufacturer, and his wife Freda. Her parents divorced when Kahn was two, and she moved with her mother to New York City. In 1960, she graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, New York, and then earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University on Long Island. In 1969, she appeared Off-Broadway in the musical Promises, Promises.
She appeared in two musicals in the 1970s: Richard Rodgers’ 1970s Ark-themed Two Two Two and Noah’s Ark by Richard Rodgers. She also appeared in a special performance of Candide for Leonard Bernstein’s 50th birthday in honor of the opepea Candide’s 50st birthday. Her other film appearances included The Cheap Detective, City Heat, Clue, and Nixon. She was married to Hiller Kahn, who later adopted Madeline; Freda eventually changed her own name to Paula Kahn. She had two half-siblings: Jeffrey and Robyn. In 1948, Kahn was sent to the progressive Manumit school, a boarding school in Bristol, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Hofstra in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy. She later studied singing in New York city with Beverley Peck Johnson. When asked on television by Kitty Carlisle and Charles Nelson Reilly how she began the opera aspect of her career, she said: “The Muse was definitely not in attendance. I mean basically I feel as though I was asked to do it and I did it”
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