WILMINGTON — She moved to the Port City in 1995 before exiting to the Big Apple in 2012 and leaves behind an indelible impact on the arts community and city she called home for 17 years. At age 87, Linda Lavin has passed away.
The TV, film and Broadway star was diagnosed with lung cancer a few weeks ago and planning to undergo treatment. She enjoyed breakfast and games with friends and her husband of 19 years, Steve Bakunas, before she passed away unexpectedly in Los Angeles on Sunday, Dec. 29.
“This is a total shock,” Blue Post owner and actress Barbara Weetman, who was with Lavin on Sunday, wrote in a message to Port City Daily.
The two were friends for almost three decades and starred together in numerous productions locally in Lavin and Bakunas’ renovated-garage-turned-theater on Third Street. Red Barn Studio was a 50-seat intimate hub, known for dramas, musical revues, comedy and more during its nine-year run, five of which Lavin and Bakunas curated the shows.
At Red Barn, Weetman appeared in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Rabbit Hole” and Charles Busch’s “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” with Lavin.
Though best known as the Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated actress of the ‘70s and ‘80s TV show “Alice,” Lavin was revered on Broadway earning her first Tony nomination for “It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman” in 1970. She continued to be nominated five more times before she won for best actress in a play for Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound” in 1987. Nominations also included the “Allergist’s Wife” and for her role as Ruth Steiner in “Collected Stories,” which she first staged at Red Barn before taking the role to Broadway.
Former Wilmingtonian and actor Jason Hatfield (“Homeland,” “The Conspirator”) performed locally in “Allergist’s Wife” with Lavin, as well as “Driving Miss Daisy.” The latter is considered the longest-running production in Wilmington history, staged for 85 performances. Taking on the role of Boolie, Hatfield said working with Lavin was unlike any experience he had endured onstage.
He first met her when auditioning for the part of Bert Jefferson in “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” as Lavin guest-directed the Opera House Theater Company show in 2002. Very energetic, Lavin remained confident, bringing ideas to the stage and really guiding the show, Hatfield said.
“She didn’t just dial it in,” he said.
“And when people found out Linda was directing, everybody came out of the woodwork, so there were a ton of people there. But I lost the role to a guy named Steve Bakunas — I guess you can call it a bit of nepotism,” Hatfield quipped.
Lavin and Bakunas — an actor, musician and visual artist — married in 2005, after having met six years earlier. They opened Red Barn Studio in 2007 and often hand-picked actors for their shows.
Maxwell Paige, who performed as Hoke in “Driving Miss Daisy,” remembers receiving a call one day and looked down at his phone to see the name “Linda Lavin.” He said they had exchanged numbers at a local hardware store, as Paige is a painter by day.
“I thought she was calling to have some work done at her home or Red Barn, but was stunned to hear on the other end: ‘How would you like to be in ‘Driving Miss Daisy’?’” he said. “And I screamed into the phone — because to be granted something that you always wanted to do was so cool.”
An open casting call was put out for “Glengarry Glen Ross” and the role of Boolie in “Driving Miss Daisy.” Hatfield was back in front of Lavin. He thought the chances were slim to score “Driving Miss Daisy” and was “at least hoping for “Glengarry,” so imagine his surprise to hear from director Dorothy Rankin offering him the role of Daisy’s son.
Being onstage with Lavin, who played Daisy, was intimidating at first, Hatfield admitted — as it would be for anyone facing her deep well of acting acumen. Yet, he said he was put at ease because of Lavin’s unique capability to make scenes feel lived-in, due to years of “professional baggage” that helped form a “natural feedback loop” with other actors onstage.
“It was never a canned response — she was constantly in that moment,” he explained. “It just felt like you weren’t working so hard.”
Paige said there was a full house every night the show ran and called his time working with Lavin pure joy: “She was a no-nonsense person in some ways, but she could be so funny.”
Many of Red Barn’s 15 shows produced by Lavin and Bakunas sold out, including “Allergist’s Wife.”
Hatfield said witnessing Lavin in the production performing a secondary role was just as enamoring. A constant professional, she never tried — nor had to — outshine anyone onstage, he said.
And offstage, Lavin would often share stories with comedic aplomb — like a “fiery grandmother,” in Hatfield’s words. He remembered during rehearsals for “Allergist’s Wife” Lavin recalling her time working with the Muppets, as she appeared in the show in the 1980s and had a cameo in the film, “The Muppets Take Manhattan.”
“She says: ‘We were shooting in this hospital and it was so hot, and I was sitting there going, ‘Oh, this is just ridiculous! Why am I doing this?’ Until I realized that Jim Henson’s under the hospital bed with his hand coming out from the mattress…’”
“How many people do you know that have been on ‘The Muppet Show,’ for crying out loud?” Hatfield asked, adding it was always surreal to see her photo with the puppets posted in Red Barn’s restroom. “It’s like a huge badge of honor.”
Both Hatfield and Paige said they kept in touch with Lavin via social media or texts throughout the years. They agreed the contribution she has made to Wilmington’s theatre scene is a gift and during the time of Red Barn’s operations, Hatfield said it “upped the ante” for local theater companies overall.
Rachel Moser performed in “Rabbit Hole” with Lavin and Weetman at Red Barn and wrote in a message to Port City Daily on Monday that she was always impressed by Lavin’s respect overall for the artform.
“She loved artists and believed in treating them as the professionals they are,” Moser said. “She always listened more than spoke and was very generous.”
Lavin, originally born in Portland, Maine, and a graduate from William and Mary, lived in New York before arriving to Wilmington in 1995. She was part of the cast for the TV movie “Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden,” also starring Mary Tyler Moore, and fell in love with the quaint coastal town. Lavin had a Greek Revival home on South Front Street in the historic district and told StarNews more than a decade ago upon deciding to relocate to the South:
“What’s the worst that can happen? If I don’t like it I’ll go somewhere else. And I think that’s the attitude that has kept me moving forward and taking chances and having adventures.”
She immersed into the local art, music and theater scene effortlessly. Lavin directed “As You Like It” for the 1998 season of Cape Fear Shakespeare on the Green. A singer as well — known for her cabaret shows, often performed accompanied by Billy Stritch on piano and Bakunas on drums — Lavin has performed with Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and at the 60th anniversary of the USO/Community Arts Building, managed by Thalian Association Community Theater. She’s also sung at UNCW and CFCC’s Wilson Center and released “Possibilities” — featuring Broadway tunes and more — on Ghostlight Records in 2012. Her presence was also welcomed as at the first annual Wilmington Theatre Awards.
When she and Bakunas decided to move to New York in 2012 because she was getting more jobs in film and TV, they didn’t close Red Barn initially. In 2013, they turned it over to TACT for four years, rent-free, to use for a variety of productions. TACT Executive Director Susan Habas called it “a priceless gift,” one that allowed TACT to stage more intimate straight plays rather than larger musical productions as often seen on Thalian Hall’s main stage. The theater company also was able to provide space for other theater companies to host their own shows and have rehearsal space.
Three years after moving away from Wilmington, Lavin and Bakunas returned to the Red Barn for a fundraiser to benefit TACT. It was a staged reading of Bakunas’ play “Fates of Choice.”
“Linda gave freely of her time and unique talent to support the amazing arts community in Wilmington,” Habas said. “My office at the Community Arts Center is next to the studio named in her honor, so I think of her fondly every day.”
Though Red Barn Studio Theater was put on the market and in 2018 opened as an axe-throwing bar, Lavin and Bakunas’ were among initial investors to help in the South Front District-area renovation. They purchased several properties surrounding the theater, which Bakunas rehabilitated, and installed the park at Marsteller Street they then donated to the city.
“The city mourns the loss of the great actress and hometown favorite,” city spokesperson Dylan Lee wrote to Port City Daily. “She was a friend and mentor to many. The city is grateful to Linda for choosing Wilmington as her home for many years and for the contributions that she and her husband Steve made to the local theater and arts community. Linda Lavin is a beloved local legend who will not be forgotten.”
Bakunas and Lavin also were avid art supporters beyond the stage. They donated 60 pieces of work to Cameron Art Museum from artists such as Howard Hodgkin, Jim Dine, Dan Flavin, R.C. Gorman and more. Six are on view currently in the exhibit “Close to Home” — on display through March — including Wayne McDowell’s “Dark Bowl” (oil on canvas) and John Mansfield’s “East Meets West” (watercolor, rice paper, wood)
CAM Executive Director Heather Wilson wrote to Port City Daily that Lavin was a “wonderful supporter” of the museum, a place she often visited even when it was a smaller iteration, St. John’s Museum, located in downtown Wilmington.
“In addition to the donated works and support, Linda Lavin was a constant presence at the museum’s many art openings and events during her time in Wilmington,” Wilson said. “We were truly lucky and honored to have known her and Steve. She made a lasting impact on the arts and cultural landscape of our community, for which we are deeply grateful. She will be missed.”
The last project Lavin did in Wilmington before her move was the film “The Short History of Decay,” by then first-time director Michael Maren. She took on the role of Sandy Fisher, a mom and wife, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. It was filmed in Wrightsville Beach.
Lavin told reporter Cassie Foss of the StarNews in 2012: “What attracted me was the beauty of the writing. When I read the script, I turned to my husband and said, ‘I have to do this movie.’ I loved the character’s sense of humor, which is essential when you’re going through an experience like this. She knows she’s got the disease, which makes it very poignant.”
The actress hadn’t slowed down since leaving the North Carolina coast either. Lavin appeared in numerous TV shows (“B Positive,” “9JKL,” “Santa Clarita Diet”) and movies (“The Intern,” “Being the Ricardos”), including this month’s release of the Netflix series “No Good Deed.” She and Bakunas walked the red carpet of its premiere Dec. 4.
In 2025, the comedic film “One Big Happy Family” will be released, with Lavin performing as a mother who embarks on a journey with her daughter after a DNA test comes back with surprising results.
Lavin also was in the middle of production for “Mid-Century Modern,” from the creators of “Will & Grace” and executive-produced by Ryan Murphy. It was inspired by the ‘80s hit “Golden Girls,” with three more episodes left to shoot in the Hulu series, also starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham.
Hatfield reflected on his work with Lavin as honor-worthy, especially in the context of looking back upon the show that launched her career and one he revered as a child. “Alice” centered on a single mother — performed by Lavin — trying to raise her son as a working waitress. The CBS show challenged traditional gender roles on TV at the time.
“She accomplished so much in having that television series,” Hatfield said. “She was the strong female protagonist, doing a lot of groundbreaking work.”
“Once someone asked her what it was like working on ‘Alice,’” Paige recalled during their media interviews for Red Barn’s “Driving Miss Daisy.” “And she bristled — said she wasn’t talking about it anymore and it was time to move on.”
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