The Young Frankenstein star’s widower opens up about her life of generosity.
Madeline Kahn became famous for her larger-thanlife performances in classic farces like What’s Up, Doc? and Blazing Saddles, but in real life, “she was a very serious actress and a very reserved and private person,” her widower, John Hansbury, tells Closer. “She was not particularly funny — her comedy came from her serious acting background.”
In fact, Madeline trained to be an opera singer when she was growing up in Boston. “She wasn’t this ditzy broad,” her brother, Jeffrey Kahn, tells Closer. “She was very bright and insightful. People tend to look at actors through the parts they portray, and she was much more complex than that.”
But after Madeline made her movie debut as Ryan O’Neal’s flighty fiancée in 1972’s What’s Up, Doc? she often found herself cast in broad comic roles. “She would have preferred to do drama,” says William V. Madison, author of Madeline Kahn: Being the Music — A Life. “She was extremely intelligent, cultivated, well-read and educated.”
“I find being funny very hard
work. I love my work, but it ain’t easy!”
— Madeline THE LEGENDARY
COMEDIC ACTRESS LEFT A LEGACY OF LAUGHTER — AND A SERIOUS
SENSE OF GENEROSITY
AT LONG LAST LOVE
Madeline was equally serious about doing charity work. “She would get voluminous solicitations to do benefits or give money, and she gave to them all,” recalls John. The actress also supported her mother, who struggled with mental illness and a spending
habit. “She felt responsible for our mom, who always had creditors after her,” says Jef.
The star’s dedication to honing her craft and giving back was so great that she often neglected her personal life, only marrying John less than two months before her death from ovarian cancer at 57 in 1999. “We were very different — I’m more extroverted,” he says. “She was very interested in music, singing and acting, and I showed her the joys of fine arts, painting, sculpture and travel.”
After she was diagnosed with cancer in 1998, she kept the disease private for as long as she could, then devoted herself to helping others by going public with her battle. “She was a tremendous role model,” says Jef. John continues to do good works in her name, serving as chair of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance. “It’s funny,” he says. “I’ve been doing a stand-up benefit in her honor for 17 years, and she couldn’t have done stand-up if her life depended on it.”
But give Madeline a good script, and she could make you laugh until you cried. “She brought such power to her parts,” says Jef. “She’s inspired many comedic actors and actresses.” Even now, Madeline continues to inspire her fans, friends and family members. Her legacy, John tells Closer, is “she’s an actress who made some of the funniest movies of all time. Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and her Peter Bogdanovich movies… will last forever. I miss her laugh, her spirit, her goodness. She was a bright and shining star.”