Popular stage and television actress Linda Lavin has died at the age of 87, according to Deadline. Her death was sudden and came as a big shock to her fans.

The Tony Award-winning star was famous for her Emmy-nominated role on the groundbreaking 1976 sitcom Aliceas well as for her numerous Broadway appearances.

Linda Lavin was a long-time and proud LGBTQ+ ally who was in the middle of filming a brand new queer comedy series Mid-Century Modernin which she plays one of the main roles, before her death.

The Ryan Murphy-led show, which IMDB says will be released in 2025, is about three best friends – all gay men of a “certain age” – who decide to retire to Palm Springs together after an accidental death. The film stars Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham.

Linda Lavin’s death was unexpected and was due to complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her rep told Deadline.

Her most recent involvement with Mid-Century Modernwhich has been described as an LGBTQ+ version of The Golden Girlsisn’t the first time Lavin has helped elevate queer representation on screen.

One of Lavin’s biggest breaks came in 1976 when she landed the title role in a comedy series titled Alicewhich ultimately ran for nine seasons and 202 episodes on CBS.

A widely praised episode of Alicewhich aired during the show’s very first season, was a significant example of early LGBTQ+ representation on American television.

In the episode titled “Alice Gets a Pass,” Lavin’s character goes on a blind date with famous ex-quarterback Jack. In the end it doesn’t work out because Jack, played by Denny Miller, tells her that he is gay.

Alice is then forced to confront and overcome her prejudices against gay men when her overwhelmed son Tommy asks her to go fishing with Jack – alone.

In June 2024, Lavin shared a clip of the moment Jack comes out to her on her Instagram page with the caption: “Proud of this groundbreaking episode on network television during Alice’s first season in 1976!” Happy pride of happy pride !”

Several members of the queer community took to the comments section to thank Lavin for sharing the clip and explain what her years of allyship — and the all-important LGBTQ+ representation at a young age — meant to them.

One man wrote: “OMG! Linda, I always hoped to meet you one day to tell you how important this episode is Alice was for me. This show aired when I was about 13, and I had realized long before that that I had no interest in girls but rather an attraction for men, although I didn’t know the details or that anyone else thought that way and didn’t, that my feelings had a name. I saw this with my 17 year old brother and had to ask him what “gay” meant.

“He told me, ‘It’s when a man likes guys instead of girls.’ I didn’t even think about it much at that moment, but as these feelings for men surfaced over the course of the week, I realized that I was the “gay” thing you were talking about. That stopped me from spending many years in the wilderness.”

Another added: “I was just a child but I remember it and how powerful it was for me at the time. “A sensitive subject at the time but flawlessly handled with humour, respect and great care.”

A third said: “Thank you so much – for everything you have done and for everything you continue to do – we owe you a lot.”

Many LGBTQ+ celebrities also paid tribute to Linda Lavin, including Sarah Paulson, who shared a montage of various appearances alongside Lavin over the years titled “Shout out to the great Linda Lavin.”

Sarah Paulson is dating fellow actress Holland Taylor, and Linda Lavin recently attended a 50th birthday party that Taylor threw for Paulson just two weeks before Lavin’s death.

In photos shared online, Lavin was seen deep in conversation with Sarah’s partner Holland Taylor and posing for selfies with the birthday girl, according to US Sun.