Linda Lavin to Play Sean Hayes’ Mom in New NBC Pilot

Alice and Jack are coming together on TV! Tony winner Linda Lavin has signed on to play Sean Hayes' mother in an untitled NBC pilot, according to Deadline.com.

Lavin will join Hayes (Promises, Promises, Will & Grace, Smash) in the new multi-camera comedy by Victor Fresco (My Name is Earl, Better Off Ted). Directed by James Burrows, the sitcom pilot will follow Hayes’ character as he juggles the arrival of his 14-year-old daughter at home and his despicable boss at work. 

Lavin earned a Tony nod for her most recent Broadway outing, The Lyons. She played the title character on the sitcom Alice from 1976 to 1985, picking up an Emmy nomination and four Golden Globe nominations along the way. She won a Tony Award for 1987’s Broadway Bound and received additional Tony nominations for Collected Stories, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, The Diary of Anne Frank and Last of the Red Hot Lovers. She is set to appear in the ensemble cast of  the upcoming Broadway muscial Prince of Broadway.  Her other screen credits include Wanderlust, The Back-Up Plan, Conrad Bloom, The Sopranos, The Ring, The Muppets Take Manhattan and the upcoming A Short History of Decay.