Carol Kane makes a quavering voice a precise comic tool, especially when she has someone worth arguing with. Her timing is a pleasure, though the repeated casting as an eccentric asks too little of her.
Fi1m perspective
In The Princess Bride (1987), Carol Kane and Billy Crystal make bickering worth waiting for. As Valerie, the wife of Crystal’s character, Kane puts that quavering voice to work in a quarrel between two properly matched comic actors. We laughed at their exchanges because her timing makes the argument feel shared, with neither performer reduced to supplying the other with cues. Rob Reiner gives her little screen time, but she makes the company better.
Her early dramatic work deserves to be kept in view. Hester Street (1975), directed by Joan Micklin Silver, gave her the leading role of Gitl, a Russian-Jewish immigrant. She found wider recognition as Simka in Taxi (1981–1983), opposite Andy Kaufman. Voice and accent work matter in both, but the shift also involved fewer opportunities to lead a film. After Hester Street, typecasting helped move her towards character parts.
The reservation is how readily that comic identity can become a casting habit. Kane is often given eccentric supporting characters, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020), in which she plays landlord Lillian Kaushtupper, keeps her in familiar territory. Calling her eccentric tells us little about the care with which she changes her voice for a character or an accent. We want more leading parts for her, rather than more proof that she can make an odd supporting character memorable.
The Princess Bride is our clearest recommendation for the comedy, with the caveat that its lovers interest us less than their companions. Reiner takes his fairy-tale characters seriously enough to let us enjoy their company as well as their jokes. That suits Kane: the unusual delivery is pleasurable, but so is the care she takes over a small part. For a second evening, try Hester Street, where she gets the leading role.
Biography
Carol Kane is an American actress and comedian. Born Carolyn Laurie Kane on 18 June 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio, she made her professional stage debut at the age of 14 in a production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and later attended the Professional Children's School in New York.
She received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Hester Street (1975) and appeared in films including Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Annie Hall (1977) and The Princess Bride (1987). On television she played Simka Gravas on Taxi (1981–1983), winning two Primetime Emmy Awards, and later appeared as Corinne in an episode of Seinfeld (1994). She has also performed as Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked on Broadway and toured productions, and played Lillian Kaushtupper in the series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020).
