What is Madeline Kahn's Net Worth?
Madeline Kahn was an actress, comedian, and singer who had a net worth of $2 million at the time of her death in 1999. Madeline Kahn was known for her performances in such comedy films as "Paper Moon," "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein," "First Family," and "Clue." She also acted prolifically on stage, including in "On the Twentieth Century," "Born Yesterday," and "The Sisters Rosensweig." On television, Kahn starred on the short-lived sitcoms "Oh Madeline" and "Mr. President," and later on the sitcom "Cosby."
Early Life and Education
Madeline Kahn was born as Madeline Wolfson on September 29, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts to Jewish parents Freda and Bernard. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and she subsequently moved with her mother to New York City. Kahn was later adopted by her stepfather Hiller. From her parents' respective remarriages, she had a half-brother named Jeffrey and a half-sister named Robyn. Growing up, Kahn attended the Manumit School, a progressive Christian socialist boarding school in Bristol, Pennsylvania. She went on to attend Martin Van Buren High School in New York. For her higher education, Kahn went to Hofstra University on a drama scholarship. She graduated in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy.
Theater Career
Kahn began her professional acting career on stage. In 1965, she made her debut as a chorus girl in an off-Broadway revival of "Kiss Me, Kate." Three years later, Kahn starred in a special concert performance of "Candide" in honor of Leonard Bernstein's 50th birthday. The same year, she made her Broadway debut in the musical revue "Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968." Closing out the decade, Kahn appeared in the off-Broadway experimental musical comedy "Promenade." Returning to Broadway in 1970, she originated the role of Goldie in the musical "Two by Two." In 1973, Kahn originated the role of Chrissy in David Rabe's play "In the Boom Boom Room," earning her her first Tony Award nomination. She received her second Tony nomination for her work in the original production of the musical "On the Twentieth Century," which premiered in 1978.
In 1983, Kahn acted in a production of "Blithe Spirit" at the Santa Fe Festival Theater. Two years later, she returned to Broadway to appear in "What's Wrong With This Picture?" At the end of the decade, Kahn starred as Billie Dawn in the Broadway revival of "Born Yesterday," for which she earned her third Tony nomination. She returned to the stage in 1992 to star in a limited touring production of the musical "Hello, Dolly!" The following year, Kahn starred as Gorgeous Teitelbaum in the original Broadway production of the play "The Sisters Rosensweig." For her work, she won the Tony for Best Actress in a Play. Kahn's final two theater credits were the 1995 concert production of "Anyone Can Whistle" and the 1998 Roundabout Theatre Company workshop reading of "Dear World."
Film Career
In 1968, Kahn made her film debut in the short film "The Dove," a parody of the films of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. She made her feature film debut four years later, playing the hysterical fiancée of Ryan O'Neal's main character in Peter Bogdanovich's screwball comedy "What's Up, Doc?" Kahn reunited with Bogdanovich the next year for "Paper Moon," in which she played Trixie Delight. For her performance, she earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Kahn received a second consecutive Academy Award nomination for her performance as Lili Von Shtupp in Mel Brooks's 1974 Western comedy "Blazing Saddles." She appeared in another Mel Brooks film the same year, "Young Frankenstein." In 1975, Kahn once again reunited with Bogdanovich, this time for his musical comedy "At Long Last Love." Also that year, she starred alongside her "Young Frankenstein" costars Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman in the musical comedy "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother," written and directed by Wilder. Kahn next starred in the 1976 comedy "Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood." In 1977, she appeared in her third film by Mel Brooks, "High Anxiety." Kahn's subsequent credits were the 1978 mystery comedy "The Cheap Detective" and the 1979 musical comedy "The Muppet Movie," in which she had a cameo.
Kahn had a big year in 1980, appearing in four films: "Simon," "Happy Birthday, Gemini," "Wholly Moses!," and "First Family." The next year, she appeared in her fourth film directed by Mel Brooks, "History of the World, Part I." Kahn subsequently starred alongside Jerry Lewis and Mary Feldman in the 1982 science-fiction comedy "Slapstick of Another Kind." After that, she appeared in the ensemble cast of the 1983 comedy "Yellowbeard." In 1984, Kahn played the love interest of Burt Reynolds's character in the buddy crime comedy "City Heat," and in 1985 she played Mrs. White in "Clue," based on the board game. Turning to voice acting, Kahn voiced characters in two animated musical films in 1986: "My Little Pony: The Movie" and "An American Tail." She didn't have another film role until 1990, when she played the mother of Molly Ringwald's character in Alan Alda's romcom "Betsy's Wedding." Four years later, Kahn played suicide hotline worker Blanche Munchnik in Nora Ephron's Christmas black comedy "Mixed Nuts." Next, in a rare dramatic role, she portrayed Martha Beall Mitchell in Oliver Stone's 1995 biopic "Nixon." Returning to voice acting, Kahn voiced Gypsy in the 1998 Pixar animated film "A Bug's Life." Her final film role was in the 1999 drama "Judy Berlin."
(Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Television Career
Kahn made her television debut in 1972 in the television film "Harvey," an adaptation of the play and film of the same name. The next year, she appeared in two episodes of the short-lived ABC sitcom "Adam's Rib," an adaptation of the 1949 film. During the remainder of the decade, Kahn had guest roles on such shows as "The Carol Burnett Show," "The Muppet Show," and "Sesame Street." She had her first main role on television from 1983 to 1984, as the star of her own short-lived ABC sitcom, "Oh Madeline." In 1986, Kahn starred in an episode of "ABC Afterschool Special," and won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance. Next, from 1987 to 1988, she was on the Fox sitcom "Mr. President."
In the early 1990s, Kahn appeared in episodes of "Road to Avonlea," "Lucky Luke," and "Monkey House," and starred in the HBO television film "For Richer, for Poorer." She had her next main role in 1995, on the short-lived CBS newspaper drama series "New York News." Kahn's final live-action television role was also her longest-running one: Pauline Fox on the CBS sitcom "Cosby." She played the role for most of the show's run, from 1996 to 1999. Just before her passing, Kahn voiced Mrs. Shapiro in the first two episodes of Bill Cosby's animated educational children's show "Little Bill."
Personal Life and Death
In 1998, Kahn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She subsequently underwent treatment, and in the summer of 1999 married John Hansbury. On December 3, 1999, Kahn passed away.
