Let's talk about Madeline Kahn...

^^ She was great but I loved her best in Paper Moon.

Lili

Wasn't she kidnapped as a toddler in Portugal? When did they find her?

One of the best comedic actresses EVAH! Trixie Delight was an Oscar-worthy performance - especially the scene where she climbs the hill in heels and tried to convince Addie to come to the car

Her first movie.

There hasn't been anyone as funny as she in all these years.

She was also a trained soprano and hoped to work in opera but that didn't happen for her.

Mahweena Deutschwand

Oh God -- her Marlena Dietrich bit in Blazing Saddles -- "I'm Tired" -- I have to find a link to that!

I'm Tired! I'm not a wabbit, I need some west....

God she was awesome

Taffetta, darling!

Beautiful, funny, extremely talented... She was never less than brilliant. Some trivia for DL:

She was a marvelous Cunegonde in CanCANDIDE (1968 concert).

She was hired to play Agnes Gooch in the musical (?) film of MAME, but personally fired by Lucille Ball.

She sang on more than a dozen cast albums and concert recordings.

She stole the show in What's Up Doc?

A rumored cocaine problem in the 70s kept her from the reaching the pinnacle of show biz success, slowing her down just as she was getting the hottest.

She could've easily been an equal to Streisand, Midler and Minnelli. She was a better actress than all of them and at least as good a singer. Unfortunately, she won't be remembered as much.

She was nominated two years in a row for supporting Oscars (Blazing Saddles and Paper Moon) and won a Tony for The Sisters Rosensweig.

She was Mel Brooks' favorite leading lady, starring in four of his movies.

Her TV sitcom Oh Madeline! lasted only one season. She ended her career supporting Bill Cosby on his last (unfunny) sitcom.

She died of ovarian cancer at age 57 in 1999.

Wonderfully talented but a true supporting performer. Never as impressive in a starring role but could steal any movie or show as the underling.

R16 Great observation! Madeline was a scene stealer as a character actress. She always totally filled whatever niche spot she accepted. Stockard Channing is another example.

I hated her SO... MUCH, it, it, the flames, FLAMES, on the side of my face... breathing... breathless... heaving breaths... heaving... breaths...

She is so hilarious in "Young Frankenstein." She steals the entire movie.

"Taffeta, darling."

"Oh darling, you mustn't worry so..." (said in as bored a voice as possible)

"Well, seven IS my lucky number..."

"Oh, you men are alike! Six or seven quick ones, and you're off with the boys... to BOAST... and BRAG!"

She is so adored by so many gay Boomers and Xers, but I worry she was not prolific enough to be well remembered after we die. She may be like Lyda Roberti, who was pretty much the Madeline Kahn of the 1930s--she was beloved in her time, but didn't do enough work to be well remembered later.

R19 Oh yes, hilarious delivery! In R10 I'm Tired... so sick of men 'coming and going, going and coming'

There's always something new to appreciate about Ms. Madeline in that clip. And her Ms. Trixie Delight in Paper Moon. Not a huge part but she steals every scene.

"Husbands should be like kleenex- soft, strong, and disposable."

We just did this thread two weeks ago, OP. Did you not search her name before starting this one?

Of course you didn't.

I remember seeing her belt out a number on the tonight show when I was a kid. Her voice was shockingly great. Then she was hilarious in the interview with Johnny Carson. She was one in a million.

She’s a Teutonic Twat with a hunger for schnitzengruben. Oh, it's twue. It's twue. It's twue.

A good and thorough biography was published last year. Well-written and edited, but I wish there was more about her personal life.

Unfortunately she was plagued by self-doubts, especially about her looks. She was so horrified by how she looked in What's Up Doc? it drove her into therapy.

I loved her Eunice look, and she easily stole the picture from Babs.

Classic!

While looking at some of the links in this thread, I came across this--Judy Kaye, soon after she had taken over the role of Lily Garland from Kahn, singing a duet from "On the 20th Century" with her co-star John Cullum.

This is worth seeing just for Ciullum's insane 1978 outfit; but it's also so interesting to hear Kaye sing this song. She was a better singer than Madeline was, and she's a superb comedienne (much better than Kristin Chenoweth), but even so, she still just doesn'thave whatever magic Kahn had when she was at her best.

Hal Prince was always grateful to her for saving the show, though, and gave her the role of Carlotta as a 'thank you' gift. And she was famously the best thing in that show's original production (except for the sets) and won a Tony because of her terrific there-dimensional portrayal of what was written as a two-dimensional character.