Ilene Graff

Who is Ilene Graff?

Ilene Susan Graff is an American actress and singer.

The Brooklyn native began her professional career as a teenager when she performed as a background singer and commercial actress while attending Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village. She graduated from Ithaca College in 1970.

Graff's Broadway credits include Promises, Promises, Grease, Truckload, and I Love My Wife.

Graff's 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 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 most recent screen credit is the 2006 film Loving Annabelle.

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