Jan Maxwell Dies

[Chris L]

In 2011, Amy and I flew from LA to my old hometown of Washington, DC, to see the Kennedy Center's major revival of Follies. Jan Maxwell's Phyllis stole the show from the admittedly weak competition of Bernadette Peters' Sally. Maxwell was youthful, energetic, charming and, during "The Story of Lucy and Jessie," impossibly leggy. She seemed quite young -- and I guess at six years younger than me, she was, at least from my perspective. The show went to Broadway and then came here to LA, minus Peters, where again Maxwell seemed like a boundless fountain of energy.

She passed away on February 11 at the ridiculously early age of 61 of an unspecified form of cancer. Here's the Playbill obituary:

http://www.playbill.com/article/jan-maxwell-a-five-time-tony-award-nominee-dies-at-61