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She was born Madeline Gail Wolfson on September 29, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Paula, was just 17 when Kahn was born. Although Kahn's parents were high-school sweethearts, they divorced when she was only two years old. After the divorce was finalized, Kahn and her mother moved to New York City. A few years later, her mother remarried and gave birth to Kahn's half-brother, Jeffrey, in 1955. In 1948, Kahn was sent to a progressive boarding school in Pennsylvania and stayed there until 1952. During that time, her mother pursued her dream as an actress. Ironically, Kahn soon began acting herself and performed in a number of school productions. In 1960, she graduated from the Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, NY where she earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University. At Hofstra, she studied music, drama, and speech therapy and also performed in several campus productions. After changing her major a number of times, Kahn graduated in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy.

Kahn began auditioning for professional acting roles shortly her graduation from Hofstra; on the side, she briefly taught public school in Levittown, NY . Just before adopting the professional name of Madeline Kahn (Kahn was her stepfather's last name), she made her stage debut as a chorus girl in a revival of Kiss Me Kate which led her to join the Actors' Equity. In 1968, she earned her first break on Broadway with New Faces of 1968 and then performed her first lead role in the musical CandideCandide is a musical with music by Leonard Bernstein. The original production featured lyrics by Richard Wilbur, John la Touche, and Dorothy Parker. The 1974 Broadway production credited lyrics to Wilbur with additional lyrics by la Touche and Bernstein.. She debuted in the movies that same year with a role in De Düva: The Dove. Her most famous roles followed in the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends: she appeared in What's Up, Doc? ( 19721972 is a leap year starting on Saturday (click link for calendar). Events January events January 2 the Pierre Hotel Heist Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of the Pierre Hotel in New York City. Loot is at least $4 million January 5 President of the Un), Paper MoonThis bittersweet comedy was released in 1973 and was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The sreenplay was adapted from the novel "Addie Pray" by Joe David Brown. The film is set during the Great Depression in the U. state of Kansas and it starred the real lif ( 1973Events January events January 1 United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community now known as the European Union January 3 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led), Young FrankensteinYoung Frankenstein is a 1974 film directed by Mel Brooks, starring Gene Wilder as the title character. Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, and Gene Hackman also star. The screenplay was written by Brooks and Wilder. ( 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped), Blazing SaddlesBlazing Saddles is a Warner Bros. 1974 comedy starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder. Director Mel Brooks appears in multiple supporting roles, and Slim Pickens, Alex Karras and Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman are also featur ( 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped), and High Anxiety ( 1977). The final three films were all directed by Mel Brooks, who many Hollywood observers claimed was able to bring out the best of Kahn's comic talents. For her work in Paper Moon and Blazing Saddles, the young comedienne received nominations for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Kahn's roles were primarily comedic rather than dramatic. After her success in Brooks's films, she played in a number of less successful films in the 1980s. At the end of her career, she returned to the stage and won a Tony Award for her role in The Sisters Rosensweig, a play by Wendy Wasserstein. In the final years of her life, she played a major role on the sitcom Cosby and voiced Gypsy the Butterfly in A Bug's Life, before succumbing to ovarian cancer on December 3, 1999. She was only 57 years old. She was survived by her husband (John Hansbury), mother (Paula Kahn), brother (Jeffrey Kahn), and niece (Eliza Kahn).