Patricia Heaton Speaks Out After ‘Room for Two’ Costar Linda Lavin’s Death: ‘She Looked Out for Me’

Patricia Heaton opened up about her friendship with former costar and late actress Linda Lavin.

“I just heard the news that my dear friend Linda Lavin died,” Heaton captioned a post on X. “Totally unexpected, even at the age of 87. A true friend and a total force of nature.”

The pair costarred together in Room for Two for two seasons from 1992 to 1993. Along with the post, Heaton, 66, shared a video talking about working with Lavin and their lasting friendship.

“Hey friends, I’m down here in my basement looking through some old photos and ran across some pictures of me and my dear friend Linda Lavin,” the Memoirs of an Invisible Man actress said. “She was such a legend. The first major role I had in television was playing her daughter in a short-lived but wonderful show called Room for Two. She was my mentor, my guardian angel.”

“She really looked out for me, taught me a lot, not just about acting, but about life and we had dinner a couple of months ago when I was in L.A. and she was just as sharp and funny and energetic as she always has been and she passed away today,” Heaton continued. “I’m going to miss her. She was a good friend.”

Lavin’s death was confirmed on Sunday, December 29, by her representative to multiple outlets. The Alice actress died from complications due to recently discovered lung cancer.

Tributes poured in for the TV and Broadway icon after news of her death was made public.

“One of the rarest gifts in life is to make a ‘new’ old friend. Linda Lavin was that for me and my family. Rest in peace dear Linda,” Joe Mantegna wrote on X alongside a photo with Lavin.

“RIP the irreplaceable Linda Lavin. A star in every medium, but pure theatrical genius. Blissfully funny, deeply emotional, and audiences adored her,” playwright Paul Rudnick wrote in a post on X. “She never disappointed: I worked with her, and just watching her rehearse and build a performance was an education and the greatest joy.”

“Farewell Tony winner LINDA LAVIN Brilliant Broadway & TV star, wise, wonderful, and blessed with incredible comic timing. Her pandemic internet skits, arguing with her agent, had me laughing throughout the lockdown. Bravo!! #RIP,” actor Steve Hayes wrote on X.

The Golden Globe winner is survived by her husband of nearly 20 years, Steve Bakunas.

“We have so much fun together,” she told Closer in May 2014 about their marriage. “I feel very fortunate to have found him!”

Years later, she explained how they met and the sweet outcome of their first interaction.

“I had set up a foundation so I could work with inner city girls from the ages of 9 to 13, who were at risk in their communities,” the Broadway star told Closer in September 2021. “We encouraged them to speak their stories or sing them or find a way to connect with their own power through movement, music or poetry. It was a very exciting time in my life. I was sent to a theater in Cape Cod to do the program, and through that theater I met Steve. So it had a very nice, sweet outcome.”