Lainie Kazan Quotes

United States, Actress
May 15, 1940

Lainie Kazan (born May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the 1988 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for St. Elsewhere and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for My Favorite Year. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in My Favorite Year (1982). Kazan played Maria Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and its sequel film My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

Also known as Singer, Television Actor, Stage Actor, Film Actor, Voice Actor

I love singing. It's who I am. When I act, I take a small part of myself and just magnify it, but when I'm singing, that's who I am. I don't write music, so I choose songs that I would have written.

Lainie Kazan
- Music
- Singing
- Write
I'm an exercise and yoga junkie and I feel good.

Lainie Kazan
- Good
- Exercise
- Yoga

I have a rich, full, textured life.

Lainie Kazan
- Life
- Rich
- Full
I'd seen all the great entertainers by the time I was 14 or 15. My mother was artistic. My father was a bookmaker, so he had access to all those nightclubs, and he was smitten by certain artists, and we would go see them. We'd see comics like Sid Caesar and Milton Berle - those kind of artists - many of whom I worked with later in my life.

Lainie Kazan
- Life
- Time
- Great
I went to a lot of theatre. My parents were very involved with the performing arts. I went to nightclub shows when I was a little girl. We went to Florida and we would go to the Cocoanut Grove down there. We'd go see Lena Horne, Jimmy Durante, Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland.

Lainie Kazan
- Parents
- Girl
- Theatre
I was a student of Sanford Meisner for three years at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and I studied with Lee Strasburg for five years and became a member of the Actors Studio. What I studied came right from the horse's mouth. My students have a lot to learn from me, and I am so eager to share it.

Lainie Kazan
- Actors
- Students
- Share
The men may be the head of the house, but the women are the neck and they can turn the head any way they want.

Lainie Kazan
- Men
- Women
- May
Frankie Randall is a consummate performer. He is an exquisite jazz pianist and wonderful singer. I had the great pleasure to work with him on the Dean Martin Show and I'm very proud to call him a friend!

Lainie Kazan
- Work
- Great
- Friend