Actress Linda Lavin, best known to TV fans for her leading role in the CBS sitcom AliceHe has died, TVLine has confirmed. She was 87.

According to a representative for Lavin, she died unexpectedly on Sunday from complications of recently discovered lung cancer.

Lavin got his start on the small screen with episodes of series like Rhoda, Phyllis And Barney Miller. However, her most memorable television role was as widowed waitress Alice Hyatt on the CBS sitcom Alicewhich ran for nine seasons from 1976 to 1985. Lavin appeared in all 202 episodes of the series and received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 1979, as well as two Golden Globe winners.

Post-AliceLavin played supporting roles in the short-lived sitcoms Space for two (opposite Patricia Heaton) and Conrad Bloomappeared in a number of television films and was a guest star on series such as The OC, the good woman, Bone And Madam Secretary. More recently, she has starred in CBS small-screen comedies, among others 9JKL And B Positivea guest appearance Good woman Spin off Elsbeth and just earlier this month, three episodes of the Lisa Kudrow-Ray Romano Netflix series Not a good deed.

She was next set to star in the Hulu comedy Mid-Century ModernA Golden Girls-style series led by Nathan Lane and Matt Bomer. TVLine has reached out to Hulu regarding any impact on the show’s production.

Lavin was also an accomplished stage actress and appeared in numerous productions on and off Broadway. Throughout her career, she received six Tony Award nominations and won the Best Actress in a Play trophy in 1987. Broadway bound.

Heaton, who played Lavin’s daughter on TV Space for two In 1992, she reflected on her experiences working with Lavin in an X-Video on Sunday.

“She was my mentor, my guardian angel,” Heaton said. “She really cared for me and taught me a lot – not just about acting but also about life. And we had dinner a few months ago when I was in LA and she was just as sharp, funny and energetic as ever… I’ll miss her. She was a good friend.”

“It was so good working with her,” he added The good woman And Elsbeth Co-creator Robert King. “Such a voice. Such a reality. And yet great comic instincts.”

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