Actress Lynn Cohen, best known for playing the wise and maternal Magda on iconic HBO series Sex And The City, died on Friday from undisclosed causes.
Cohen was 86, as confirmed to BuzzFeed News.
While Magda was very much a fixture in the show as Miranda’s (Cynthia Nixon) nanny after she gives birth to her son Brady, it is astounding to realize that Cohen only actually appeared in 13 episodes of the six-season series.
Gone but not forgotten: Actress Lynn Cohen, best known for playing the wise and maternal Magda on iconic HBO series Sex And The City, died on Friday; seen here in 2013
On Saturday, Sex And The City actress Sarah Jessica Parker took to her Instagram to commemorate Cohen, with a closeup of the actress in character as Magda.
‘Beautiful Lynn Cohen,’ Parker, who played main character Carrie Bradshaw, captioned the image.
‘Miranda’s dear and necessary Magda. Our dear SATC colleague. Talent, grace, inspiration. RIP X, SJ’.
In 2018, Cohen spoke about her role in an interview with Cosmopolitan, where she also said she had known the show’s creator, Michael Patrick King, for 30 years before she landed the role.
‘It showed of a different age who was smart as the devil, very bossy, and also understood sexuality, and they needed that,’ she said.
‘It enlarged the canvas on which they were working, that they would not have a typical old lady molding away in some retirement home somewhere, but a woman who worked, and didn’t suffer fools.’
The actress also played Magda in both Sex And The City spin-off feature films, and was an accomplished film actress outside of that franchise as well — among many others, Lynn performed in Steven Spielberg’s Munich and Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry and Manhattan Murder Mystery.
Magda: While Magda was very much a fixture in the show as Miranda’s (Cynthia Nixon) nanny, Cohen only actually appeared in 13 episodes of the six-season series, as well as both spinoff films (seen here in Sex and the City 2)
Accomplished: The actress also appeared in many films, including Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery (seen here in a publicity still from that film, with Jerry Adler)
She also played competitor Mags in the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire.
Other television pursuits included Damages, Law & Order, Nurse Jackie and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Cohen’s career started all the way back in 1983, when she appeared in the Kate Nelligan-starring drama Without A Trace.
Her acting credits also include various roles on Broadway in the ’90s, in productions such as Ivanov and Orpheus Descending.
Talent, grace, inspiration: On Saturday, Sex And The City actress Sarah Jessica Parker took to her Instagram to commemorate Cohen, with a closeup of the actress in character as Magda
Versatile: Cohen also played competitor Mags in the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire
Cohen was working right up until the time of her death, with five new projects in the works.
Along with three short films in post production, she also is set to appear in two new feature films, including a drama based on the Upper West Side of Manhattan titled The Riverside Bench.
Lynn was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1933, and is survived by her husband, Ronald, who she was married to since 1964 — for 56 years.
In film: Lynn seen here in character as Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in Steven Spielberg’s historical action-drama Munich
Joyous: Cohen’s career started all the way back in 1983, when she appeared in the drama Without A Trace; seen here at the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire premiere in LA in 2013
Longtime love: Lynn was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1933, and is survived by her husband, Ronald, who she was married to since 1964; seen here in April 2019