Louise Lasser Biography

Fast Facts

• Won a National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble for "Happiness" in 1998
• Attended Brandeis University and later studied acting with Sanford Meisner
• Began her career on stage as a chorus member, found the process of acting for the screen, where there was no live audience to watch her, more comfortable
• Made her screen acting debut in the comedy short "The Laughmakers" in 1962
• Quote: "I'm not functioning properly when I'm not acting․ That's a safe place․․․[but] when you are a celebrity you are totally a victim․ There's something great about success, and something horrifying․"
• Quote: "(On California): "I used to feel they confiscated everybody's books at the airport-to see if they could make a movie out of any of them․""
• Best known for her role as the title character in "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" and as Ada in "Requiem for a Dream․"