Madeline Gail Kahn, born Madeline Gail Wolfson on September 29, 1942, in Boston, Massachusetts, was an acclaimed American actress, comedian, and singer known for her tremendous range and comedic brilliance.

She was the daughter of Freda Goldberg and Bernard Wolfson, and after her parents' divorce, she moved to New York City with her mother where she eventually adopted her stepfather's surname, Kahn.

Raised in Queens, she attended Martin Van Buren High School and went on to study drama and music at Hofstra University, graduating in 1964 and initially training as an opera singer. After brief work as a public-school teacher, she transitioned to the stage, making her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman's "New Faces of 1968" and quickly gaining attention for her unique stage presence and comic timing.

Her big break in film came with Peter Bogdanovich’s screwball comedy "What's Up, Doc?" (1972), where her performance drew widespread praise.

She garnered further acclaim with the films "Paper Moon" (1973), for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and "Blazing Saddles" (1974), which brought her another Oscar nomination for her iconic portrayal of Lili Von Shtupp. Kahn continued her collaboration with Mel Brooks in "Young Frankenstein" (1974), "High Anxiety" (1977), and "History of the World, Part I" (1981), earning a place among the most memorable comic actresses of her generation.

She also starred in Neil Simon's "The Cheap Detective" (1978), the cult classic "Clue" (1985), and lent her voice to notable animated films like "An American Tail" and "A Bug's Life" (1998) as the character Gypsy.

On stage, Madeline Kahn received critical acclaim and multiple Tony Award nominations for her work in both musicals and plays, including "In the Boom Boom Room" (1974), "On the Twentieth Century" (1978), and "Born Yesterday" (1989). She ultimately won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Wendy Wasserstein’s "The Sisters Rosensweig" in 1993.

Her television work included starring in the sitcom "Oh Madeline" (1983-1984) and playing a recurring role as Pauline on "Cosby" in her final years. Kahn’s signature blend of vulnerability, wit, and vocal talent marked every role she played, whether on stage, screen, or television.

She married her long-time partner John Hansbury in October 1999, just weeks before her passing. Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1998, she continued working through her illness until her death on December 3, 1999, in New York City at the age of 57.