Lainie Kazan Biography

Fast Facts

• Serves on the boards of the Young Musicians Foundation, AIDS Project LA and B'nai Brith, and has given many benefit performances for these causes
• Was presented with "The Israeli Peace Award" in 1990
• Was Barbara Streisand's understudy in the Broadway production of "Funny Girl․"
• As an actress, one of her most successful roles was as the Greek matriarch in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," an independent film that achieved wide mainstream popularity
• Sang in in New York and Los Angeles nightclubs early in her career and made many guest appearances on talk and variety shows
• The photographs she took for "Playboy" served as the inspiration for the appearance of DC comic book super hero Big Barda
• Though she played Bette Midler's mother in "Beaches," she is only five years older than the other actress in real life