Carolyn Laurie Kane is an American actress. Kane's parents are Joy, a jazz singer, dancer, and pianist, and Michael Kane, an architect, who worked for the World Bank. Her family was Jewish, with her grandparents having immigrated from Russia. Her parents divorced when she was twelve years old. She attended the Professional Children's School in New York and made her professional theatre debut in a 1966 production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Tammy Grimes.

Kane is best-known for her portrayal of Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, wife of Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman), on the American television series Taxi from 1981 to 1983. Kane earned two Emmy Awards for her work in the series. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Hester Street. She also appeared in 1987's The Princess Bride and 1988's Scrooged with Bill Murray, in which Variety called her "unquestionably [the] pic's comic highlight"

Kane was a regular on the 1990-1991 NBC series American Dreamer, guest-starred on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld and had a supporting role in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom Pearl, which starred Rhea Perlman.

In early 2006, Kane began a run in the Broadway musical Wicked, playing Madame Morrible, a role which she had previously played in the show's first national tour. She also appeared in the NBC television live action production of The Year Without a Santa Clause in December 2006. She is currently (as of September 2007) playing Madame Morrible in Los Angeles.