The cause of death for actress Linda Lavin — who died unexpectedly in Los Angeles in December at the age of 87 — has been revealed.
Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actress who became a working-class icon as a paper hat-wearing waitress on the TV sitcom, Alice, died of cardiopulmonary arrest, according to her death certificate obtained by TMZ.
Cardiopulmonary arrest is a condition in which the heart stops pumping necessary blood, usually resulting in the person falling unconscious as the lungs and brain are deprived of the oxygen needed to sustain life.
Lung cancer, however, was listed as the underlying cause. At the time of her passing, reports noted that Lavin’s lung condition was first detected just prior to her death.
Last year, Lavin underwent a bronchoscopy — a procedure involving a tube being inserted into a person’s airways so that a doctor can diagnose or treat a lung condition.
After her death, the The Good Wife actress was reportedly cremated at her husband Steve Bakunas’ home in Los Angeles, according to the death certificate.
Following her success on Broadway, Lavin tried her luck in Hollywood in the mid-1970s and landed a role in a new CBS sitcom based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, the Martin Scorsese-directed film that won Ellen Burstyn an Oscar for playing the titular waitress.
Later, the sitcom’s title was shortened to Alice, as Lavin’s character Alice Hyatt became a role model for working moms across the country. The actress went on to win two Golden Globe awards and was nominated for an Emmy for her role in the sitcom.
Lavin’s credits also include the 2010 film The Back-up Plan, the 1989 movie I Want to Go Home, the 1970’s sitcom Barney Miller, the 2020 television series B Positive, and the 2013 TV series Sean Saves the World, among many others.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
