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Ilene Graff

American actress and singer (born 1949)

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Ilene Graff (born February 28, 1949) is an American actress and singer.

01Early years

Graff was born on February 28, 1949, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of musician Jerry Graff, and piano teacher Judy Graff. She attended Ithaca College.

Graff and Husband Ben Lanzarone in 2013
Graff and Husband Ben Lanzarone in 2013

02Life and career

Graff's Broadway credits include Promises, Promises, Grease, and I Love My Wife. On television, Graff portrayed Penny Whitaker on Supertrain. Her other television work includes Barnaby Jones, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Three's Company, Lewis & Clark, and St. Elsewhere. From 1985 until 1990, she played what is possibly her best known role, Marsha Cameron Owens, the wife of Bob Uecker's character, George, in the sitcom Mr. Belvedere.

In addition to her roles on television, Graff also appeared in the motion picture Ladybugs playing the girlfriend of Rodney Dangerfield and mother of Jonathan Brandis. Her recent screen credits include films The Things We Carry, Ma-i pa-deo, and Loving Annabelle.

03Personal life

While performing in Grease Graff met and married composer Ben Lanzarone, and they have one daughter, Nikka, born 1983. Graff is the older sister of Tony Award-nominated actor, film producer, writer, film director and former Short Circus member Todd Graff and cousin of Tony winner Randy Graff. She serves as the spokesman for the AMC Cancer Research Center.

04Select filmography

Watch videos about Ilene GraffExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Ilene Graff, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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