Lilyan Chauvin

Biography

French character actress Lilyan Chauvin may be one of those actors or actresses whose face you know without knowing their names. Chauvin was a long time veteran of the European stage, and was adept at playing strict, but sometimes loving characters. To horror fans, she might be best known as the sinister Mother Superior in Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), but her career started back in the 1950s when she was plucked from the stage to appear in small minor roles in motion pictures. One notable film was with John Wayne in North to Alaska (1960). For about thirty years, Chauvin was one of the busiest character actresses in Hollywood, appearing in over forty films as well as on television. Her many film credits include Private Benjamin (1980), Predator 2 (1990), No Place to Hide (1992), Universal Soldier (1992) as Jean-Claude Van Damme's mother, and Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002) with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Most Known For

Friends

as Grandma Tribbiani

The X-Files

as Golda

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

as Mrs. Aloyna Ivanovna

Frasier

as Mama

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

as Vedek Yassim

ER

as Nurse Edna

Perry Mason

as Matron

Murder, She Wrote

as Dispatcher

Mission: Impossible

as Mrs. Beruch

Malcolm in the Middle

as Marica

Magnum, P.I.

as Maria

Baywatch

as Dr. Lester

Falcon Crest

as Sister Jeannette

Mannix

Studio One

The Facts of Life

Maverick

as Sydney Sue Shipley

Hart to Hart

The Pretender

as Mrs. Nikkos, the Greek Lady

Dragnet