lavin began her career with broadway appearances in the musical "a family affair" (1962) and plays such as "the riot act" (1963) and carl reiner's "something different" (1967). in his "new york times" review of john guare's two one-act plays, "cop-out" (1969), clive barnes wrote: "miss lavin...carries versatility almost to the point of paranoia, and camps up a storm."