in 1967, lavin made an appearance as gloria thorpe in a television version of the musical "damn yankees" with phil silvers. in 1969, lavin married actor ron leibman, and by 1973, the couple had arrived in hollywood, california. after various guest appearances on episodic television series such as "the nurses", "rhoda", "harry o" and "kaz", lavin landed a recurring role as detective janice wentworth on "barney miller" during the first and second seasons (1975–1976).