after acting as a child, lavin joined the compass players in the late 1950s. she began acting on broadway in the 1960s, earning notice in "it's a bird...it's a plane...it's superman" in 1966 and receiving her first tony award nomination in "last of the red hot lovers" in 1970. she moved to hollywood in 1973 and began to work in television, making recurring appearances on the sitcom "barney miller" before getting the title role in hit comedy "alice", which ran from 1976 to 1985. she appeared in many telefilms and later in other tv work. she has also had roles in several feature films.