Linda Lavin is famous for portraying the titular single mother in the hit 1970s and 1980s series Alice. And she is still working today at the age of 84! In fact, Linda is busier now than she is. She finishes work on the second season of the new CBS series B Positive. Linda’s character lives at a retirement facility, but Linda didn’t need any assistance living in the real world! Join Facts Verse as Linda Lavin reveals the secrets to aging gracefully.
Linda is most famous for her tenure as the titular character in the 1970s and 1980s series Alice. She is still keeping busy today at the age of 84. The actress’s biggest role nowadays is portraying the character of Norma on the CBS series B Positive. Linda is hoping that the real-life citizens living in such facilities can relate to the character. Her struggles, as well as her more empowering qualities! Although Norma is stuck in a retirement facility, she didn’t let it get her down. Similarly, Linda Lavin is thriving in her old age.
B Positive Second Season
The second season of B Positive begins airing on the CBS network. Audiences will also get the chance to see Linda Lavin later this year on the big screen! Linda is portraying the real-life character of Madlyn Pugh in the upcoming I Love Lucy biopic Being the Ricardos. The film is being written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. Besides Linda, the film will feature Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, respectively. Her upcoming turn in Being the Ricardos and her ongoing gig as Norma on B Positive making her too busy!
Besides appearing on B Positive, Linda is in recent years on the television series Santa Clarita Diet. It’s hard to deny that she remains famous as the character of a single mother in the 1977 sitcom Alice. Other television series that Linda during her career includes Barney Miller, The Doctors, and The Good Wife.
Awarded Career
Besides making appearances on television in her career, Linda Lavin is also a reliable presence on the stage. The actress even received a Tony Award for her performance in the 1980s production Broadway Bound. Besides this win, the actress has received five other Tony Award nominations. The other productions that Linda nominates for include The Lyons in 2012 and The Diary of Anne Frank in 1998.
Her role as Norma, hoping that the character connects to audiences in as big just like her character on Alice. Linda’s character on Alice became a hit with single mothers who found themselves empowered by her. Similarly, Linda is hoping that her character on B Positive can empower those living in retirement facilities.
Empowering B Positive
Empowering the elderly through her tenure on B Positive, she shares words of wisdom. It is about how she manages to maintain her energy and vitality into her old age. The reason for playing a character living in a retirement facility, people her age are actually living in them. However, Linda has done her best to stay active and healthy and is nowhere near needing assistance in her daily living.
Two of the most important things that Linda tries to remember in order to maintain her healthy outlook on life are to be positive and to be resilient. When Linda encounters age-related setbacks, she doesn’t let them stop her from doing everything in her power to overcome them. Getting bogged down by negativity can prevent people from moving forward, so Linda is sure to face every challenge that she meets in her twilight years head-on. She also isn’t afraid to laugh at herself and doesn’t waste time pretending that she’s the exact same young starlet she once was.
Real-life Role
Besides being positive, Linda has also expressed the importance of her resilience. She has had to adapt over the years to maintain her place in the entertainment industry. However, she has continuously managed to take on roles that have taken advantage of real-life changes, like her current role on B Positive. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! As well, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
While positivity and resilience have certainly been beneficial skills for Linda Lavin to practice in her older age, she is also incredibly active! She routinely goes for walks and plays with her dogs in her yard. She’s also sure to cook healthy food for her and her husband, and practices mediation.
Love Notes
Although Linda Lavin isn’t running laps in her 80s, she stays active by routinely walking and playing with her dogs. As well, she stays incredibly busy with work. In addition to all of her television work, Linda released an album by the name of Love Notes in 2020. Beginning her tenure on B Positive required her and her current husband to move out to Los Angeles, which has been a fun adventure for them.
Sadly, Linda’s husband found himself out of town when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, which caused the two to have to spend a couple of months apart due to travel restrictions. During this time period, one of Linda’s dogs gets sick and needs to be put down. While this was a difficult period for Linda and her third husband Steve Bakunas, they have since overcome and are doing better than ever!
3 Times Married
Linda has expressed that the third time has been the charm when it comes to her marriages. She marries twice previously before meeting Steve, with her two prior husbands being Ron Leibman and Kip Niven. Linda married Ron in 1969, and they divorced in 1981. She then married Kip in 1982, and they divorced in 1992. Linda didn’t remarry until 2005, though her marriage to her third husband Steve has already proved to be her most successful yet!
Linda grows up in Portland, Maine, and introduces to the world of performing at a very young age. Her mother is an opera singer, and she hears on both the radio and television. Sadly, Linda’s mother ended up giving up her career as an opera singer after Linda was born. However, she would go on to live vicariously through her daughter once Linda started showing many innate talents herself.
California Career
At her mother’s insistence, Linda attended college. After graduating, she went to New York City with the goal of becoming an actress. She worked for a time at Bloomingdales’ handkerchief department while building up her profile on the stage. She received many roles in various musicals and plays during her time in New York City before eventually deciding to head out to California.
Linda made the decision to head out to California hoping that she could become a successful Hollywood actress. She moved to California in 1973, and got her titular role on the series Alice in 1977. The series rocketed Linda to superstardom, and also made her an unlikely advocate for the rights of single mothers everywhere. Although Linda was never a single mother herself, single mothers in the audience related to her character on the show.
Alice Nine Seasons
Linda Lavin portrayed the titular character on the show Alice for nine seasons before it eventually came to an end. The show followed the titular character working as a waitress at a diner in Phoenix while trying to pursue her dreams of being a successful popular singer. The show featured the character working for both equal pay and equal rights in general, which was something that the audience at home related to.
Because of her role in Alice, Linda became an unlikely spokesperson for single moms everywhere. She even made a few public appearances, though always dressed up as the character of Alice. Linda felt that the audience related to the character of Alice better than her, and the character eventually became a symbol for single mothers everywhere.
In addition to playing the titular character on the show, Linda Lavin also sang Alice’s memorable theme song. The song was subtly changed over the course of the show’s nine seasons, with a different iteration each year.
Linda and Steve
She is now 84 years old and is happily living with her husband Steve and their dogs in Los Angeles. Linda and Steve met around the turn of the millennium, at a time when Linda wasn’t remotely interested in finding a third husband. However, she couldn’t stop the sparks from flying!
Steve is also an actor, as well as a drummer. Linda and Steve met while performing together in the Broadway play Hollywood Arms. Together, the two established a theater in Wilmington, North Carolina, where they can sometimes be seen putting on productions.
The theater is called the Red Barn Theatre, and some of the productions that Linda has appeared in at the venue include Driving Miss Daisy, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, and Doubt. The couple later lived in New York, and are now calling California their home for the time being so that Linda can continue her work on B Positive, as well as in films.
Besides Linda Lavin’s aforementioned tips about how to get the most out of your twilight years, the actress has also always considered Bea Arthur a role model when it comes not only to performing, but also to aging gracefully. Comment down below to share if you were inspired by any of Linda’s words about how to age gracefully, or if you were surprised to learn that the actress is still so active at the age of 84! As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
