In a wonderfully varied stage and screen career spanning more than thirty years, Kahn crafted a string of quirky, unforgettable characters, winning a Tony, an Emmy, and two Oscar nominations. Although best remembered for her comedy work in Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein," she was actually trained as a classical singer at New York's Hofstra University, and her earliest roles were in Broadway musicals, cabaret and opera.

Hardly an overnight success, Kahn was thirty in 1972 when she made her film debut in "What's Up, Doc?" director Peter Bogdanovich's frantic homage to 1930s screwball comedies. As Ryan O'Neal's shrill, uptight fiancée Eunice Banks, Kahn, all pursed lips and flip-up hairdo, stole the picture from star Barbra Streisand. The following year, Bogdanovich cast her in his Depression-era hit comedy "Paper Moon." This time, she was Trixie Delight, a vulgar floozy who escapes from a carnival by hitching a ride with two confidence tricksters (Ryan O'Neal again, and his daughter Tatum.) The role demanded a greater range than any she'd played before, and Kahn's ability to make Trixie both poignant and funny earned the actress her first Oscar nomination.

But it was in Brooks' 1974 smash "Blazing Saddles," as world-weary German saloon singer Lili Von Shtupp ("the Teutonic Titwillow"), that Madeline Kahn really won the hearts of legions of fans. Riotously spoofing Marlene Dietrich, she crooned her way drolly through "I'm Tired," an elegy to boredom, ending with the lines: "I'm tired of being admired/tired of love uninspired...let's face it: I'm pooped." Her brilliant comedic performance won Kahn her second Academy Award nod as Best Supporting Actress.

In Brooks' spot-on parody "Young Frankenstein," she played another pampered fiancée, Elizabeth, this time to Gene Wilder's neurotic Dr. Frankenstein ("It's pronounced Fronk-en-shteen.") Kahn's most memorable moment occurs after she seduces Peter Boyle's zipper-necked Monster, barking, "Oh, my God! Woof!" before bursting into song with delight.

Although her career slowly faded along with the quality of her films, Kahn's performances never did, invariably earning her good reviews in mediocre movies. She continued her solid work on Broadway, earning two Tony nominations. In 1993, Kahn finally won a long-deserved Best Actress Tony for her funny-but-fragile turn as triple threat housewife, mother and radio host Gorgeous Teitelbaum in Wendy Wasserstein's "The Sisters Rosensweig."

Kahn made countless television appearances, winning an Emmy for an ABC afterschool special in 1987. She also tried her hand at sitcoms, including her own, "Oh, Madeline," which lasted just one season. She settled in comfortably as the perfect comedic foil to Bill Cosby in his CBS series "Cosby," playing his wacky neighbor. Then, in November 1999, friends, fans and co-workers were shocked to learn that she was suffering from ovarian cancer, the same disease that killed her close friend Gilda Radner in 1989. Announcing that she had been waging a war against the cancer for a year, Kahn decided to go public with the sad news to "raise awareness of this awful disease and hasten the day that an effective test can be discovered."

On December 3rd, 1999, Madeline Kahn passed away in a Manhattan hospital at the premature age of 57. Just weeks earlier, she had married her longtime beau, attorney John Hansbury. She left behind one final big screen performance in "Judy Berlin," a bittersweet depiction of suburban life on Long Island. Her profound portrayal of a skittish housewife disconnected from her husband and son was called "close to heartbreaking" by one reviewer. The same can be said of her early death.

Madeline Kahn was a true original. Many of her characters were written as broad, even gross, caricatures, but her comedic masterstroke lay in her ability to infuse them with genteel subtlety. That was what made them so hilarious and pathetic. It takes a rare talent to be able to convey both, and elicit favorable audience response to each simultaneously. It was a talent that Madeline Kahn possessed in spades, and one that is already sorely missed.