Louise Lasser died at her home in Manhattan at age 87, The Guardian reported July 8. The New York Times reported her death a day earlier. She was born April 11, 1939, per The Associated Press. She is survived by her longtime partner, actor Michael Citriniti. No cause of death has been reported.

Who She Was

Lasser had two major chapters in her career. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she starred opposite Woody Allen in movies like "Take the Money and Run" (1969), "Bananas" (1971), and "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (*But Were Afraid to Ask)" (1972). She and Allen were married during this time. In those films, she played characters who didn't show much emotion and delivered jokes in a flat, almost bored tone. That became her trademark style.

'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'

Lasser's biggest role came in "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," a TV show created by Norman Lear that ran from January 1976 to July 1977. The show was sold to local TV stations rather than aired on a major network—which was unusual for scripted television back then. It looked and sounded like a daytime soap opera, with dramatic music and family secrets, but it was actually making fun of those shows. It mocked consumerism, the overload of media, and suburban anxiety. Lasser played the title character, Mary Hartman, delivering ridiculous situations in her signature deadpan way.

The show produced more than 300 episodes over two seasons and aired five nights a week. That relentless pace, combined with Lasser's flat delivery of absurd events, created something television audiences had not quite seen before. Many shows that came later—mockumentary comedies, sketch shows with a deadpan tone—owe something to what "Mary Hartman" pioneered.

Before the Fame

Before movies and television, Lasser performed in theater and cabaret clubs around Manhattan. She lived with her parents while she built her reputation on stage, according to The New York Times. That experience in live performance taught her the improvisational style that Woody Allen and Norman Lear later used in their work with her.

Later Work

After "Mary Hartman" ended, Lasser took on different kinds of roles in film. She appeared in Todd Solondz's "Happiness," which explored the same kind of uncomfortable suburban life her earlier work had made famous. She was in the comedy "Mystery Men" and the dark drama "Requiem for a Dream." In 2014, director Lena Dunham cast her in the TV series "Girls," which introduced her to younger audiences who might only have heard of "Mary Hartman" through pop culture references.

What tied together her six decades of work was a single approach to comedy: delivering increasingly strange situations in a calm, emotionless way. That style influenced how comedy shows on television would work for generations to come.

News of her death appeared in major outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety.