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Lainie Kazan (born May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. Kazan was born Lanie Levine in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish father who worked as a bookie and a Turkish Sephardic Jewish mother, Carole, whom Kazan has described as "neurotic, fragile and artistic." She serves on the boards of the Young Musician's Foundation, AIDS Project LA, and B'nai Brith. She is a graduate of Hofstra University. Lainie made her Broadway debut in The Happiest Girl in the World in 1961 followed by Bravo Giovanni (1962). She served as understudy to Barbra Streisand... MORE

Lainie Kazan (born May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. Kazan was born Lanie Levine in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish father who worked as a bookie and a Turkish Sephardic Jewish mother, Carole, whom Kazan has described as "neurotic, fragile and artistic." She serves on the boards of the Young Musician's Foundation, AIDS Project LA, and B'nai Brith. She is a graduate of Hofstra University. Lainie made her Broadway debut in The Happiest Girl in the World in 1961 followed by Bravo Giovanni (1962). She served as understudy to Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, finally getting to go on 18 months into the run when the star was felled by a serious throat problem. Coincidentally, both had attended the same high school, Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. Kazan's mother alerted the press and, encouraged by rave reviews for her performance, she quit the show and set out to establish herself in a singing career. As her popularity increased, Kazan posed nude for a spread in the October 1970 issue of Playboy, which was reused in Pocket Playboy #4, issued in 1974. Her appearance in the magazine opened the door for her to headline and LESS