Detailed Biography

Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress, known for her work on stage, screen and television.

Early life

Kane was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Joy, a jazz singer, teacher, dancer, and pianist, and Michael Kane, an architect who worked for the World Bank. Her family is Jewish, her grandparents having emigrated from Russia. Her parents divorced when she was 12 years old. She attended the Cherry Lawn School, a progressive boarding school in Darien, Connecticut, until 1965. She attended the Professional Children's School, in New York City, and made her professional theatre debut in a 1966 production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Tammy Grimes.

Career

Kane is perhaps best-known for her portrayal of Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, wife of Latka Gravas , on the American television series Taxi, from 1981 to 1983, and also for her role as Allison Portchnik in Woody Allen's Annie Hall. Kane earned two Emmy Awards for her work in the series and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Hester Street. She also appeared in The Princess Bride and Scrooged , with Bill Murray, in which Variety called her, "unquestionably pic's comic highlight."

Kane was a regular on the 1986 NBC series, All Is Forgiven, a regular on the 1990-1991 NBC series American Dreamer, guest-starred on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld and had a supporting role in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom, Pearl, which starred Rhea Perlman.

In early 2006, Kane began a ten month run in the Broadway musical Wicked, playing Madame Morrible, a role which she had previously played in the show's first national tour. She also appeared in the NBC television live action production of The Year Without a Santa Claus in December 2006. She recently reprised the role of Madame Morrible in the open-ended Los Angeles production of Wicked, which opened on February 21, 2007, at the Pantages Theatre. She left the production on December 30, 2007, along with co-stars Eden Espinosa and Adam Wylie. Kane was replaced by Jo Anne Worley. Kane returned to the Los Angeles company of Wicked on August 26, 2008, to once again play the role of Madame Morrible and stayed with the production until it closed on January 11, 2009. She played Madame Morrible again in the San Francisco production of Wicked which began performances January 27, 2009, at the Orpheum Theatre for a limited engagement. She ended her run on March 22, 2009 and was succeeded by Patty Duke.

In January 2009, Kane appeared in the TV series Two and a Half Men as the mother of Alan Harper's receptionist.