Linda Lavin on the Allergist's Wife reading, Neil Simon, and Hal Prince

Her remarks on Hal Prince provide a welcome contrast to those of another Mama Rose who was recently interviewed.

Pretty wonderful. One thing that's always bugged me about the cast of Alice, though. The original actresses on the show were all women from the theater. They understood the need for company morale and sharing success. Yet I've never once read any of them mentioning or complimenting each other. Very different than the pleasure Mary Tyler Moore apparently took in Valerie Harper's success as Rhoda, or other shows where the cast speaks well of each other. I have heard Philip McKeon speak well of the late Vic Tayback. That's it. Was there friction on the set?

Updated On: 11/4/19 at 03:48 PM

carnzee said: "When Dianne Ladd replaced Flo on the show, Flo warned her "to watch out for the egos on set." A little like Bette Davis warning Shelly Winters when she replaced her in Night of the Iguana.
Allegedly, lavin just couldn't stand all of the attention Polly Holliday was getting and felt like her show was being stolen."

I remember Ladd saying that, on a special about the show (for Nick at Nite? can't remember). Never knew how trustworthy the information was.

There's a lot of gossip online, but it says something that the women themselves never commented on it (other than Ladd).

But I was not referring to a clash between two actresses, I was referring to the general lack of compliments one hears about any of them about each other. I've never heard Lavin speak well of her co-stars, nor her co-stars speak well of Lavin, but I also haven't heard any of her co-stars speak well of each other (beyond McKeon saying something nice about Tayback). I find that really odd, especially as these were women with a strong background on the stage, which generally breeds a company spirit in performers.

I don't think Linda liked Polly or Diane, but I do wonder if she was friends with Celia Weston and helped get her the part of Jolene. I have seen Celia at both the Lyons and My Mother's Brief Affair. She was very warm with Linda after both shows. I assume they are good friends.

I remember the 'gossip' articles back in the 70s when 'Rhoda' premiered, and later 'Alice' both on CBS. Lavin made her TV debut (I believe it was her debut) on one of the early episodes of 'Rhoda', called 'Rhoda's Shower'. She played her high school nemesis Linda Munroe, mistakenly invited to Rhoda's wedding shower. Other actresses played other guests, and the producers were looking to see which character had the potential to become a 'semi regular' on the series to play off of Harper.

If anyone remembers the show (it's on YouTube), Lavin literally steals the show - gut crunching laughter from her character. She should have won an Emmy for her guest starring on that episode - she made it one of the best episodes of the entire series. The audience response to her was reportedly unparalleled - they wanted more of her on the show, so she should be the character to be a semi-regular. The only one not happy with Lavin was Harper herself (according to the gossip mags back then). She knew Lavin 'stole the show', and was afraid she'd be more popular with the audience than Harper herself - and didn't want to take the chance.

Harper supposedly nixed the idea of Lavin joining the show, and the character who was brought back on a semi-regular basis was 'Myrna Morgenstein' played by Barbara Sharma. She was fun, but wore out her welcome after the first two seasons (and was sent packing with no explanation). They then tried her friend 'Suzie' (from the shower) as a semi-regular, but that didn't last either.

Lavin was noticed by ABC, and they cast her in 'Barney Miller'. But CBS wanted her back on their network, and offered her 'Alice' - where she starred for nine seasons.

There are many reasons she did not transfer with the DC FOLLIES,