Robert Klein, Martin Charnin, Scott Ellis and More to Celebrate Madeline Kahn at Drama Book Shop, 6/11

By: Jun. 02, 2015
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

New York City's Drama Book Shop will host a panel discussion on the life & career of Madeline Kahn (1942-99), the Oscar-nominated, Emmy & Tony-winning
actress, at 6pm on June 11, 2015. Star of such hit films as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Paper Moon & Clue & Broadway shows On the Twentieth Century, The Sisters Rosensweig & Two by Two, Kahn is the subject of a new biography, MADELINE KAHN: Being the Music • A Life (University Press of Mississippi) by William V. Madison, who will moderate the panel.

The panel is composed of Kahn's colleagues & friends, including comedian Robert Klein, (Kahn's most frequent co-star - New Faces of 1968, The Sisters Rosensweig, Mixed Nuts, etc.), Martin Charnin (lyricist, Two by Two), Lee Roy Reams (director, Hello, Dolly!), Scott Ellis (director of Kahn's final theatrical appearance & of the current Roundabout Theatre revival of On the Twentieth Century), Jonathan Lynn (writer/director, Clue), Walter Willison (Tony-nominated co-star, Two by Two), Joan Copeland (co-star, Two by Two), Maddie Corman (Kahn's niece on the George C. Scott sitcom, Mr. President) & Lawrence Leritz (guest star, "The Cosby Show").

Born in Boston in 1942, Madeline Kahn "was one of the most popular comedians of her time - and one of the least understood," Madison writes. She was often ambivalent about a performing career & she complained of typecasting, beginning when she was a college student. Trained as an opera singer, she made her New York debut in nightclub revues before going on to Broadway & Hollywood. Best known for her work with directors Mel Brooks & Peter Bogdanovich, she was nominated for Oscars for best supporting actress in 1973 & 1974 for Paper Moon & Blazing Saddles & won a Daytime Emmy in 1987. Kahn died of ovarian cancer in New York City, on December 3, 1999.

William V. Madison is a former producer at CBS News & a former Associate Editor of Opera News. He was also the lone production assistant on the Broadway musical Rags in 1986. A native Texan, Madison is a graduate of Brown University & the Creative Writing Program at Columbia University's School of the Arts.

Following the panel discussion, MADELINE KAHN: Being the Music • A Life will be available for purchase and signing.



Videos