Carol Kane

About

Carol Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She gained recognition for her role in Hester Street (1975), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Annie Hall (1977), When a Stranger Calls (1979), The Princess Bride (1987), Scrooged (1988) and Flashback (1990).
Kane appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s as Simka Gravas, the wife of Latka (played by Andy Kaufman), winning two Emmy Awards for her work. She has played the character of Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked, both in touring productions and on Broadway from 2005 to 2014. From 2015 to 2020, she was a main cast member on the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in which she played Lillian Kaushtupper. She currently plays the recurring role of Pelia in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023–present).

Kane was born on June 18, 1952, in Cleveland, the daughter of Joy, a jazz singer, teacher, dancer, and pianist, and architect Michael Kane. Her family is Jewish, and her grandparents emigrated from Russia, Austria, and Poland. Due to her father’s occupation,…