Carolyn Laurie Kane is an American actress and comedian. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as Hester Street, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, Annie Hall, and The Princess Bride. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as Simka Gravas, the wife of Latka, the character played by Andy Kaufman, winning two Emmy Awards for her work. She has played the character of Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked, both in regional productions and on Broadway from 2005 to 2014. From 2015 to 2019, she was a main cast member on the Netflix original series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in which she played Lillian Kaushtupper.
Birth Name
Carolyn Laurie Kane
Born
Wednesday, 18 June 1952
Actress Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend | Lillian Kaushtupper / Fiona | 2020 |
| Heads Will Roll (Audible Original - Audio Comedy) | Donna Fink (voice) | 2020 |
| Hunters | Mindy Markowitz | 2020 |
| Ghost Light | Madeline Styne | 2019 |
| Los Espookys | Bianca Nova | 2019 |
| The Dead Don't Die | Mallory O'Brien | 2019 |
| The Sisters Brothers | Mrs. Sisters | 2018 |
| Summer Camp Island | Barb Jr. / Additional Voices (voice) | 2018 |
| Pinkalicious & Peterrific | Edna | 2018 |
| Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond | Herself | 2017 |
Actress Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend | Lillian Kaushtupper / Fiona | 2020 |
| Heads Will Roll (Audible Original - Audio Comedy) | Donna Fink (voice) | 2020 |
| Hunters | Mindy Markowitz | 2020 |
| Ghost Light | Madeline Styne | 2019 |
| Los Espookys | Bianca Nova | 2019 |
| The Dead Don't Die | Mallory O'Brien | 2019 |
| The Sisters Brothers | Mrs. Sisters | 2018 |
| Summer Camp Island | Barb Jr. / Additional Voices (voice) | 2018 |
| Pinkalicious & Peterrific | Edna | 2018 |
| Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond | Herself | 2017 |
| Vampirina | Madame Spook | 2017 |
| Big Mouth | Menopause Banshee / Old Woman (voice) | 2017 |
| OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | (voice), Ginger (voice) | 2017 |
| Tangled: The Series | Madam Canardist (voice) | 2017 |
| Crowded | Linda | 2016 |
| Must See TV: A Tribute to James Burrows | Herself | 2016 |
| Animals. | Chompy (voice) | 2016 |
| F Is for Family | Marilyn Chilson (voice), Sue's Mother (voice) | 2015 |
| Ava's Possessions | Talia | 2015 |
| Addiction: A 60'S Love Story | Cecilia | 2015 |
| Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Lillian Kaushtupper, Lillian Kaushtupper (credit only) | 2015 |
| Star vs. The Forces of Evil | Dr. Jelly Goodwell (voice) | 2015 |
| Gotham | Gertrude Kapelput | 2014 |
| Halt and Catch Fire | Denise | 2014 |
| Emoticon ;) | Hannah Song | 2014 |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers | Self - Guest, Self - Tasting Tituss Burgess' Wine (archive footage) | 2014 |
| Celebrity Page | Self | 2013 |
| Clutter | Linda Bradford | 2013 |
| The Broadway.com Show | Herself | 2013 |
| Thanks For Sharing | Roberta | 2012 |
| Sleepwalk With Me | Linda | 2012 |
| Larry King Now | Herself - Guest | 2012 |
| Anger Management | Carol | 2012 |
| Should've Been Romeo | Ruth | 2012 |
| Girls | Cloris | 2012 |
| The Key Man | Marsha | 2011 |
| Jake and the Never Land Pirates | Sea Witch | 2011 |
| The Talk | Self | 2010 |
| Pete Smalls Is Dead | Landlady | 2010 |
| My Girlfriend's Boyfriend | Barbara | 2010 |
| The Bounty Hunter | Dawn | 2010 |
| Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen | Self | 2009 |
| I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale | Herself | 2009 |
| Four Christmases | Aunt Sarah | 2008 |
| Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five | Sheep (voice) | 2008 |
| Guest Of Cindy Sherman | Herself | 2008 |
| Phineas and Ferb | Nana Shapiro (voice), Nana Shapiro | 2007 |
| The Year Without a Santa Claus | Mother Nature | 2006 |
| Ugly Betty | Lena Korvinka | 2006 |
| The Happy Elf | Gilda (voice) | 2005 |
| Made in Hollywood | Self | 2005 |
| The Civilization Of Maxwell Bright | Temple | 2005 |
| The Pacifier | Helga | 2005 |
| The Tony Danza Show | Herself - Guest | 2004 |
| TV Land's Top Ten | Herself | 2004 |
| Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen | Miss Baggoli | 2004 |
| Hope & Faith | Cornelia Rackett | 2003 |
| Two and a Half Men | Shelly | 2003 |
| Audrey's Rain | Missy Flanders | 2003 |
| Cosmopolitan | Mrs. Shaw | 2003 |
| Love in the Time of Money | Joey | 2002 |
| Monk | Joy | 2002 |
| The Grubbs | Sophie Grubb | 2002 |
| My First Mister | Mrs. Benson | 2001 |
| The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | Mrs. Claus | 2001 |
| Tomorrow by Midnight | Officer Garfield | 2001 |
| The Shrink Is In | Dr. Louise Rosenberg | 2001 |
| As Told by Ginger | Maude, Maude (voice) | 2000 |
| That's Life | Gloria | 2000 |
| Dora the Explorer | Grandma Troll | 2000 |
| A Constant Forge | Herself | 2000 |
| Man On The Moon | Carol Kane - 'Taxi' Actress | 1999 |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Gwen Munch | 1999 |
| Independent Lens | Mrs. Shaw | 1999 |
| Beggars and Choosers | L.L., Lydia Luddin | 1999 |
| Noah's Ark | Sarah | 1999 |
| The Tic Code | Miss Gimpole | 1999 |
| Jawbreaker | Ms. Sherwood | 1999 |
| Family Guy | Carol | 1999 |
| The First Snow Of Winter | 1998 |
| Noddy | Pearlie White | 1998 |
| Office Killer | Dorine Douglas | 1997 |
| The Tony Danza Show | Simka Gravaas | 1997 |
| Gone Fishin' | Donna Waters | 1997 |
| Theater Talk | Self - Guest | 1996 |
| Trees Lounge | Connie | 1996 |
| Pearl | Annie Caraldo | 1996 |
| American Strays | Helen | 1996 |
| Hey Arnold! | Emily Dickinson Trophy | 1996 |
| Adventures from the Book of Virtues | The Beetle | 1996 |
| The Pallbearer | Tom's Mother | 1996 |
| Sunset Park | Mona | 1996 |
| Big Bully | Faith | 1996 |
| Theodore Rex | Molly Rex (voice) | 1995 |
| Napoleon | Spider (voice) | 1995 |
| Freaky Friday | Leanne Futterman | 1995 |
| A.J.'s Time Travelers | Emily Roebling | 1995 |
| The Crazysitter | Treva Van Arsdale | 1994 |
| Chicago Hope | Marguerite Birch | 1994 |
| Aladdin | Brawnhilda | 1994 |
| Even Cowgirls Get The Blues | Carla | 1994 |
| Ellen | Lily Penney | 1994 |
| Addams Family Values | Granny | 1993 |
| Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Herself - Guest | 1993 |
| When A Stranger Calls Back | Jill Johnson | 1993 |
| TriBeCa | Amanda | 1993 |
| Homicide: Life on the Street | Gwen Munch | 1993 |
| Baby on Board | Maria | 1992 |
| The Plucky Duck Show | Ollie (voice) | 1992 |
| In The Soup | Barbara | 1992 |
| Brooklyn Bridge | Aunt Sylvia | 1991 |
| Ted & Venus | Colette | 1991 |
| Tiny Toon Adventures | Ollie | 1990 |
| American Dreamer | Lillian Abernathy | 1990 |
| My Blue Heaven | Shaldeen | 1990 |
| Joe Versus the Volcano | Hairdresser (as Lisa LeBlanc) | 1990 |
| Flashback | Maggie | 1990 |
| The Lemon Sisters | Franki D'Angelo | 1989 |
| Seinfeld | Corinne | 1989 |
| Tales from the Crypt | Judy | 1989 |
| The Arsenio Hall Show | Herself - Guest | 1989 |
| Scrooged | Ghost of Christmas Present | 1988 |
| Empty Nest | Shelby | 1988 |
| License To Drive | Mrs. Anderson | 1988 |
| Sticky Fingers | Kitty | 1988 |
| Drop-Out Mother | Maxine | 1988 |
| The Princess Bride | Valerie | 1987 |
| Ishtar | Carol | 1987 |
| Jumpin' Jack Flash | Cynthia | 1986 |
| All is Forgiven | Nicolette Bingham | 1986 |
| Transylvania 6-5000 | Lupi | 1985 |
| Tall Tales & Legends | Barbara | 1985 |
| The Ray Bradbury Theater | Polly | 1985 |
| Crazy like a Fox | 1984 |
| Racing With The Moon | Annie | 1984 |
| Over The Brooklyn Bridge | Cheryl | 1984 |
| The Secret Diary Of Sigmund Freud | Martha Bernays | 1984 |
| Tales from the Darkside | Anne MacColl | 1983 |
| Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? | Customer At Cafe | 1983 |
| Reading Rainbow | Herself (voice) | 1983 |
| Cheers | Amanda | 1982 |
| Norman Loves Rose | Rose | 1982 |
| Faerie Tale Theatre | The 'Good' Fairy | 1982 |
| Pandemonium | Candy | 1982 |
| The Games of Countess Dolingen | Louise Haines-Pearson | 1982 |
| American Playhouse | Lavinia | 1981 |
| Entertainment Tonight | Herself | 1981 |
| Strong Medicine | 1981 |
| The Greatest Man In The World | April | 1980 |
| When A Stranger Calls | Jill Johnson | 1979 |
| The Muppet Movie | Myth | 1979 |
| Taxi | Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, Simka Dahblitz, The Beautiful Actress | 1978 |
| The Mafu Cage | Cissy | 1978 |
| The World's Greatest Lover | Annie Hickman | 1977 |
| Valentino | Fatty's Girl | 1977 |
| Annie Hall | Allison | 1977 |
| Visions | 1976 |
| Harry and Walter Go To New York | Florence | 1976 |
| Laverne & Shirley | Olga | 1976 |
| Dog Day Afternoon | Jenny | 1975 |
| Hester Street | Gitl | 1975 |
| The American Parade | Susannah White | 1974 |
| BBC2 Playhouse | Frances Loomis | 1974 |
| The Last Detail | Young Whore | 1974 |
| Wedding in White | Jeannie Dougall | 1972 |
| Desperate Characters | Young Girl | 1971 |
| Carnal Knowledge | Jennifer | 1971 |
| Great Performances | Frances Loomis (story 'The Girls in Their Summer Dresses') | 1971 |
| The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Herself - Guest | 1962 |
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 1996 | Emmy | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Nominated |
| 1983 | Golden Globe | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated |
| 1983 | Emmy | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, Variety or Music Series | Won |
| 1982 | Emmy | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Won |
| 1976 | Oscar | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Nominated |
