Joanna Gleason and Austin Pendleton Join ON MADELINE KAHN Panel at 92Y Tonight

Tony Award-winner Joanna Gleason and actor/director Austin Pendleton join ON MADELINE KAHN, a panel on the life and career of Madeline Kahn (1942-99), the Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Tony-winning actress, tonight, April 5, at 7pm at New York City's 92nd Street Y.

Star of such hit films as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Paper Moon & Clue & Broadway shows On the Twentieth Century, The Sisters Rosensweig and Two by Two, Kahn is the subject of William V. Madison's biography, MADELINE KAHN: Being the Music • A Life (University Press of Mississippi). The event will be moderated by frequent 92nd Street Y host and five-time Billboard Award-winner Valerie Smaldone.

Fresh from a successful event in Los Angeles, that featured director Peter Bogdanovich and actress Cybill Shepherd, Kahn's biographer, William V. Madison, joins Kahn's colleagues & friends: Joanna Gleason (co-star of the TV film "For Richer, For Poorer"), Austin Pendleton (co-starred in four films with Kahn: What's Up, Doc? (her feature debut), Simon, First Family and The Muppet Movie, guest-starred on her short-lived TV series "New York News"), Barbara Barrie (who starred with Kahn in her last film, Judy Berlin) & Maddie Corman (Kahn's niece on the George C. Scott sitcom "Mr. President"). Following the panel discussion, MADELINE KAHN: Being the Music • A Life will be available for purchase and signing. All proceeds from book sales will go to Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF).

Born in Boston in 1942, MADELINE KAHN "was one of the most popular comedians of her time - and one of the least understood," Madison writes. She was often ambivalent about a performing career & she complained of typecasting, beginning when she was a college student. Trained as an opera singer, she made her New York debut in nightclub revues before going on to Broadway & Hollywood. Best known for her work with directors Mel Brooks & Peter Bogdanovich, she was nominated for Oscars for best supporting actress in 1973 & 1974 for Paper Moon & Blazing Saddles & won a Daytime Emmy in 1987. Kahn died of ovarian cancer in New York City, on December 3, 1999.

Madeline Kahn's experience illustrates the challenges faced by many actresses & many women working in other fields, as well. Her career path was determined in large part by others, by writers, directors & casting agents, most of whom simply couldn't imagine her in the more subtle, serious roles she would have preferred. Yet, because of Kahn's family responsibilities, there was never any question of not working. The participation of these three outstanding actresses, moderated by Valerie Smaldone, who in addition to her many other credits is also an actress, promises fresh insight into the realities of an actor's life.

VALERIE SMALDONE is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award-winner & is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market. She has hosted, produced & created several nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with top recording artists such as Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John & Mariah Carey, among others. Having talked with hundreds of celebrities, performers & entrepreneurs, she is an accomplished interviewer who is always interested in procuring each individual's unique story.

WILLIAM V. MADISON is a former producer at CBS News & a former Associate Editor of Opera News. He was also the lone production assistant on the Broadway musical Rags in 1986. A native Texan, Madison is a graduate of Brown University & the Creative Writing Program at Columbia University's School of the Arts.

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) is the oldest & largest charity in the United States funding ovarian cancer research with a mission to fund scientific research that leads to more effective identification, treatment & ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer, as well as related educational & support initiatives. Approximately 22,000 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year & nearly 15,500 women will die of the disease. Since 1998, OCRF has awarded nearly $70 million to ovarian cancer researchers around the country. OCRF also supports Woman to Woman, a national program which in 2015 will be providing support through more than 20 hospitals around the country to women in treatment for any gynecologic cancer, as well as their families, by pairing them with survivor volunteers who offer one-on-one emotional support & mentoring. Visit www.ocrf.org to learn more.

92nd Street Y is a world-class cultural & community center where people all over the world connect through culture, arts, entertainment & conversation. For 140 years, they have harnessed the power of arts & ideas to enrich, enlighten & change lives & the power of community to repair the world.

As a proudly Jewish organization, 92Y enthusiastically welcomes & reaches out to people of all ages, races, faiths & backgrounds while embracing Jewish values like learning & self-improvement, the importance of family, the joy of life & giving back to our wonderfully diverse & growing community, both locally & around the world.