Madeline Kahn

August 3, 2015
Madison, a former CBS News producer, gives comedian Madeline Kahn (1942â1999) the star treatment and provides fans with an in-depth, heartfelt look into her too brief life. Kahn died far too young at age 57, having enjoyed an early meteoric rise and earned back-to-back Oscar nominations for her work in the films Paper Moon and Blazing Saddles. For years, Kahn's professional and personal decisions were defined by her tumultuous childhood, specifically the fallout from having an undiagnosed mentally ill mother whom she looked after financially, and a father and stepfather who both left her mother. Kahn attended Hofstra on a drama scholarship but gave it up over the roles she was assigned and transferred to the music department. She worked in cabarets and made her opera debut in La Bohème. Realizing she couldn't keep up with singing's physical demands, she found herself in the enviable position of being directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks in career-defining roles. However, Kahn, who was a serious, earnest actor, worried about how audiences perceived her and struggled with the comedic, spacey parts she was often given. Madison offers a warm portrait of Kahn, and ends on an upbeat note, observing that Kahn experienced overdue romantic and professional fulfillment in her last years, including winning a Tony award and acting in the award-winning Judy Berlin for her final film. B&w photos.

May 1, 2015

Madeline Kahn (1942-99) was famous for her comedic roles in such films as Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety, but her talents extended beyond into the worlds of music, stage, and television. In this thoughtful biography, Madison, a former producer for CBS News, examines Kahn's career, offering a comprehensive look at her roles working with Gene Wilder, Lily Tomlin, Mel Brooks, Peter Boyle, Danny Kaye, and others. He explores Kahn's professional insecurities, difficulties with her mother, struggles within the performing industry, final illness, and lonely personal life until her relationship with and subsequent marriage to lawyer John Hansbury. Madison writes with candor and dignity, skillfully weaving personal details into the engaging narrative. He celebrates Kahn's triumphs and is honest about her failures, the 1978 Broadway musical On the Twentieth Century in particular. Kahn emerges as a gifted, genuine, and complex individual. Her versatile talents were more extensive than often acknowledged and were best summed up by the Irving Berlin song she exquisitely performed for the composer's 100th birthday tribute: "You'd Be Surprised." VERDICT This superior portrait of a talented star is supported by extensive interviews and archival research. Photographs and a thorough listing of Kahn's work enhance this fine book. For entertainment and circulating collections.--Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ

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