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

Louise Lasser, the demure, soft-spoken comedienne best known as Woody Allen‘s first leading lady and as the title character on the television satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, has died. She was 87.

Lasser died Monday of natural causes at her home in Manhattan on the Upper East Side, her best friend, Susan Charlotte, told The Hollywood Reporter.

With her reserved demeanor, calming voice and toothy smile, Lasser, who was married to Allen from 1966-70, proved to be a perfect balance to his neurotic, nebbish film persona.

She was with him at the start of his movie career for the 1966 quirky cult classic What’s Up Tiger Lily?, when Allen took an obscure Japanese spy thriller, tossed the soundtrack and recorded all new dialogue that nonsensically told of the quest for the world’s best egg-salad recipe. Lasser provided the voice for the heroine Suki Yaki.

Lasser next played her husband’s love interest in Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971). Their final film together was Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) — Allen’s comic take on the best-selling 1960s how-to guide.

But what cemented Lasser’s stardom was her lead role on the groundbreaking 1976-77 series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Produced and developed by Norman Lear and created by Jerry Adelman, Daniel Gregory Browne, Ann Marcus and Gail Parent, the show was a low-key yet cutting parody of soap operas that skewered American consumerism. The joke started with its title, to mock the notion that everything in daytime dramas is repeated twice.

Released in syndication, the comedy ran five nights a week — unheard of at that time. In general, the industry didn’t know what to make of the program. When Lasser was nominated for an Emmy in 1976, her category was “Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement.”

What everyone did know was that it was funny. With a droll, understated approach, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman pushed the envelope, tackling such topics as adultery, homosexuality, venereal disease, exhibitionism, serial killing, religious cults and UFOs. In the midst of it all was Lasser as Mary. With girlish pigtails, a white Peter Pan collared blouse and a blue smock dress, she embodied a mockingly innocent version of an American housewife.

Consumed with such mundane matters as Swanson TV dinners and waxy yellow buildup on the floor of her home in Fernwood, Ohio, Mary conveyed the naivete of the 1970s suburban woman, victimized by the ideals of a commercialized culture. Lasser instilled the character with a noble dignity and a quiet sense of desperation that slowly continued to build during the series’ 325 episodes, highlighted by Mary’s meltdown at the end of season one on The David Susskind Show.

“I always thought it was a really good show because it touched so many aspects of everything,” Lasser said in a 2013 interview for Interview magazine. “It’s sort of up and down and in and out, and before you know it, there you are. And then it itched such rich subjects, do you know what I mean? 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.”

Decades later, she took on a recurring role as a suicidal artist on HBO’s Girls.

Louise Jane Lasser was born on April 11, 1939, in New York. Her father, S. Jay Lasser, was a renowned tax expert who wrote the book Everybody’s Income Tax Guide. Though Lasser studied political science at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, she couldn’t resist the lure of the stage, joining the school’s musical productions alongside the likes of Margo Howard and Stuart Damon.

After three years of college, Lasser took what she described as a “psychological leave” and returned to New York. At 21, she began studying acting with Sanford Meisner and performing in Greenwich Village coffeehouses and bars. Around that time, she was introduced to Allen.

“When we met, I was seeing a friend of his. It was one of those things, ‘Well, if you think you’re complicated, you should meet so-and-so.’ And it was Woody,” Lasser recalled in a 2013 interview on The Toast website. “We immediately, immediately, just were meant to be in the same playpen. We just connected. He was with somebody … oh, he was married [to Harlene Rosen], that’s right. And I was with his friend. And we went out like once or twice. And I don’t know who I am or where I am, I don’t know. So, I met him, and it was so clear the whole night the four of us were there, and neither of us are talking to anyone else.”

Lasser gained attention in 1962 when she was tapped to replace Barbra Streisand on Broadway in the musical comedy I Can Get It for You Wholesale (she was her understudy). The same year, she appeared on the TV show The Laughmakers, written by Allen. She popped up in a 1964 episode of The Doctors and made an uncredited appearance in 1965 in the Allen-scripted film What’s New Pussycat? When Allen’s career ignited in 1966, so did Lasser’s.

In 1976, she told Lois Armstrong of People magazine that she and Allen were still phone pals and that she considered him “the major relationship” and “a major, major influence” during her life. She also said the name on her driver’s license read Louise Jane Allen. Lasser never married again.

Before being cast as Hartman, Lasser keep busy through the 1970s with memorable TV stints on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Love Story, McCloud and Medical Center. She also was seen in 1973 in the feature Slither and in the telefilms Coffee, Tea or Me? and Isn’t It Shocking?

In spring 1976, Lasser was arrested after an incident in a Beverly Hills store that led to the discovery of cocaine in her purse. The actress told People it was a minuscule amount given to her by a fan months earlier. “I’m not a coke user, and I hadn’t used that stuff,” she said. “But you can’t plead innocent if you’ve got it on you.”

Shortly after the arrest, she hosted the final episode of the first season of Saturday Night Live. Her behavior was so erratic, reportedly fueled by a substance-abuse problem, she became the first performer banned by producer Lorne Michaels from ever hosting again.

But instead of letting her anxiety take her down, Lasser funneled it into her TV persona. The plotline for Mary Hartman to suffer a mental breakdown was her idea. And the process proved cathartic.

As Armstrong wrote in People. “As for Louise? ‘I felt wonderful,’ Lasser admitted. ‘I’d had a nervous breakdown in playtime, with no consequences.’ She laughs edgily, then adds, ‘For a while there, I wasn’t sure.’ One of Lasser’s friends elaborates, ‘She totally broke down after that scene, because she had to finish it for herself.’ ”

After Mary Hartman ended its run in 1977, Lasser kept busy with recurring roles on Taxi and It’s a Living. She wrote and starred in the 1978 telefilm Just Me and You. She popped up in an uncredited cameo in Allen’s 1980 film Stardust Memories.

Other feature appearances included Simon (1980), In God We Tru$t (1980), Crimewave (1985), Blood Rage (1987), Surrender (1989), Rude Awakening (1989), Sing (1989), Frankenhooker (1990), Modern Love (1990), The Night We Never Met (1993), Happiness (1998) and Mystery Men (1999).

More recently, she was seen in Requiem for a Dream (2000), Queenie in Love (2001), Wolves of Wall Street (2002), National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers (2003) and Driving Me Crazy (2012).

Lasser is survived by partner Michael Citriniti