Sex and the City, Hunger Games actor Lynn Cohen dies at 86

Published on February 15, 2020

Lynn Cohen, best known for her portrayal of Miranda’s nanny Magda on Sex and City, has died. She was 86.

Cohen passed away Friday in New York City, her representative confirms to EW. No further details are being revealed at this time.

Cohen built a steady career in regional and repertory theater before moving to New York City at the age of 44 and beginning to pursue a professional acting career on Broadway, film, and television.

For many, she was most beloved for her portrayal of Ukrainian, traditional values-holding Magda on Sex and the City — Miranda’s housekeeper-nanny who famously replaced the sarcastic, working woman’s vibrator with a statue of the Virgin Mary. First appearing in the show’s third season in a non-speaking role, Cohen earned a steady fan following. She would remain with the series through its conclusion, as well as appearing in both spin-off films in 2008 and 2010.

In 2013, Cohen garnered a group of younger fans when she signed on to the Hunger Games franchise as 80-year-old former District 4 champion and mentor to Finnick Odair, Mags. Though largely silent, Mags ends up playing a crucial role alongside Finnick in the 75th annual Hunger Games, also known as the Quarter Quell.

Cohen also portrayed Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in Steven Spielberg’s Munich, as well as having a recurring role as Judge Elizabeth Mizener on Law and Order for more than 10 years.

Lynn Cohen was born on August 10, 1933, in Kansas City, Mo. After many years in the Kansas City theater scene, Cohen moved to New York City in her 40s and had a burgeoning film and television career from then on. She made her feature film debut in Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, in which she portrayed the murder victim that spurs the mystery of the title.

She rose to greater prominence with Sex and the City, but had steadily worked in film and television, including over 20 years on various iterations of Law and Order.

She had recurring roles on television shows The Affair, Damages, and Nurse Jackie. She appeared in numerous films throughout her career, including romantic comedy They Came Together, Beatles musical Across the Universe, and appearing with her Hunger Games costar Philip Seymour Hoffman in Synecdoche, New York. Most recently, she had guest-starred on episodes of God Friended Me, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Blue Bloods.

Cohen is survived by her husband Ronald Theodore Cohen, who she married in 1964.

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