Lynn Cohen

Lynn Harriette Cohen (née Kay; August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress whose work spanned theater, television, and film across several decades. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Louis Kay and Bertha Cornsweet Kay, she was raised in a Jewish family. She studied for a year each at the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University before relocating to St. Louis, where she began her acting career in regional theater.

Cohen's professional stage work began in the 1970s with Off-Broadway productions, during which she earned nominations for both the Drama League Award and the Lucille Lortel Award. Her Off-Broadway credits included productions of Hamlet, in which Kevin Kline starred, and Macbeth, starring Liev Schreiber. She made her Broadway debut in 1989 in Orpheus Descending, which featured Vanessa Redgrave, and returned to Broadway in 1994 for Ivanov, reuniting her with Kline. Her Broadway career extended through 1997.

On screen, Cohen's first notable film role came in the 1993 comedy Manhattan Murder Mystery. That same year she began a recurring role as Judge Elizabeth Mizener on the NBC drama series Law & Order, a part she held through 2006 across 12 episodes. She also appeared as a guest on NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Blue Bloods, and held a recurring role on Damages.

Beginning in 2000, Cohen took on the role of Magda in the HBO comedy series Sex and the City, continuing in the part through 2004. She reprised the character in the 2008 theatrical film adaptation and again in its 2010 sequel. Among her other film appearances were Munich (2005), in which she portrayed Golda Meir, Vanya on 42nd Street, Synecdoche, New York, Eagle Eye, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, in which she played Mags. She also appeared in The Vigil as Mrs. Litvak.

Cohen married Gilbert Frazen in 1957; he died in 1960. In 1964 she married Ronald Theodore Cohen, and the two remained married until her death. She had one adult child and two grandchildren. Cohen died on February 14, 2020, in New York at the age of 86.