Lainie Kazan Makes Rare Los Angeles Outing at 85

Lainie Kazan, the Brooklyn-born actor and singer whose broad-pitched warmth defined a generation of screen matriarchs, surfaced in Los Angeles last week for a rare public outing. The 85-year-old performer, who rose to prominence on Broadway in the mid-1960s before becoming a familiar face on television and in film, was photographed by Daily Mail photographers as she made her way through the city in a wheelchair. The sighting underscores how, even after decades in the spotlight, Kazan maintains a deliberately low public profile.

The outing showed Kazan dressed in a leopard-print blouse paired with taupe palazzo pants, a white ruffled shawl, sandals and gold jewelry, with sunglasses completing the ensemble. She was carefully assisted from a car into the wheelchair, according to the exclusive photographs. The scene reflected a restrained presence for a performer long associated with larger-than-life stage and screen personas. The images, captured last Monday in Los Angeles, offer a rare glimpse of Kazan away from the stage and screen lights that helped define her career.

Kazan’s professional arc spans multiple decades and disciplines. She began on the cabaret and supper-club circuit in the 1960s, where she shared stages with leading entertainers and built a reputation as a formidable live performer. Her early Broadway work led to feature-film opportunities, including a Golden Globe-nominated turn in 1982’s My Favorite Year. On television, she became a familiar face beyond the big screen, most notably for her role as Aunt Frieda on the popular 1990s sitcom The Nanny, and she later earned an Emmy nod for guest work on St. Elsewhere. In 1993, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her work on the Broadway transfer of the film-inspired show, solidifying her status as a versatile performer who could navigate both musical and dramatic material.

Her fans widely associate Kazan with a defining part of 21st-century comedy about family life: Maria Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). The film’s blend of humor and warmth introduced her to a new generation of moviegoers and remains a benchmark in contemporary romantic comedy. Kazan reprised Maria in the 2016 sequel and again in 2023 for the franchise’s third installment, in which her character is depicted navigating dementia.” The film’s enduring appeal has been linked in part to Kazan’s larger-than-life on-screen warmth, a hallmark of the matriarchs she has portrayed over the years.

Beyond the Greek Wedding franchise, Kazan has maintained a broad spectrum of credits. In 1993, a Tony Award recognized her contribution to musical theater, a capstone to a career that began in the 1960s with live performances that stretched from supper clubs to major Broadway productions. Her versatility was evident across film, television and stage, including a notable Broadway revival and a string of television guest appearances that kept her work in the public eye even when she stepped away from the spotlight. In 1970, she posed for Playboy, a move that drew attention at the time but did little to define her talent; instead, it added another layer to a career defined by range and resilience.

Kazan’s professional high profile contrasts with her private life in recent years. While she remains a beloved figure among fans of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Broadway musicals, she has mostly kept to the periphery of public life. The Los Angeles sighting came amid a period when she has largely favored private appearances over red-carpet moments, a pattern that has persisted for several years. The 2017 incident in which she was briefly detained on shoplifting charges from Gelson’s grocery store in Los Angeles was reported at the time; she was released without further incident. Public record through the years, including interviews and profiles, reflects a career-driven focus rather than a public-facing lifestyle, with Kazan often choosing appearances that align with personal intervals rather than permanent visibility.

For fans of Kazan’s work, the LA appearance is a reminder of the breadth of her career—from the mid-1960s Broadway scene to an enduring screen presence that helped shape the image of the modern television matriarch. She has been celebrated not only for her distinctive voice and stage presence but also for the warmth she brought to characters who resonated with audiences long after the credits rolled. The 2002 My Big Fat Greek Wedding became an instant cultural touchstone, in part because Kazan’s Maria conveyed a fierce devotion to family wrapped in humor and heart—a quality that remains a touchstone for fans and critics alike.

As Kazan ages with the sobriety and poise often observed among performers who built much of their reputation on live performance, observers note that her public appearances are rare enough to warrant attention. The LA outing underscores a career that has continually evolved—from Broadway and film to television and stage, and back to the big screen through sequels that have reinforced Kazan’s status as a durable figure in Culture & Entertainment. While the public may not see her at every premiere or talk-show circuit, her contributions to musical theater, television and cinema endure in the memories of audiences who connected with her distinctive blend of warmth, humor and talent.