Before there was Kate McKinnon, or Maya Rudolph, or Kristen Wiig or even Gilda Radner there was Ruth Buzzi. A standout on the sketch comedy hit Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Buzzi died May 1 at her home in Texas. She was 88.
The Golden Globe award winner and Emmy nominee’s well-named spinster character, Gladys Ormphby, could be counted on to sock-it to Arte Johnson’s dirty old man at least once an episode. Laugh-In ran from 1968 to ’73 and was TV’s No. 1 rated series in 1968-69 and 1969-70. Besides hosts Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and Johnson, Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Judy Carne, Jo Anne Worley, Alan Sues and Henry Gibson were among the players who quickly became household names. Buzzi was the only regular to appear in every episode of the series.
The actress also wore her brown sweater and hairnet as Gladys on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts where she got to whack a number of A-list entertainers, including Martin, Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali. She also made many appearances on Martin’s long-running variety show.
Her other TV credits include stints on Marlo Thomas’ sitcom That Girl in the ’60s. She also appeared on other sitcoms including The Monkees and, later, Alice. She was in demand on many variety shows of the ’70s including Flip Wilson, Donny & Marie, Tony Orlando and Dawn and The Carol Burnett Show.
Besides her sketch comedy work Buzzi lent her distinct voice to several animated series, including Pound Puppies and The Smurfs. Young viewers saw her on Sesame Street. She also could be heard and/or seen in several Disney films, including The Aristocats, Freaky Friday and The Apple Dumpling Gang Ride Again.
Buzzi even contributed to a couple of Canadian TV series, including an episode of the Don Adams sitcom Check It Out and the children’s series You Can’t Do That on Television.
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In 2019, Buzzi took a bow on Still Laugh-In — The Stars Celebrate, a Netflix tribute special. The cringe-worthy tribute also featured Worley and Tomlin but seemed hastily thrown together. Guests who seemed more available than connected tried to recreate the old Laugh-In energy but that only made fans miss the original players more. For a much better tribute, listen to my 2023 brioux.tv: the podcast conversation with Laugh-In producer-creator George Schlatter.
In 2002, I met Buzzi, along with Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens, and Worley, at a Television Critics Association event in Los Angeles. They were among several TV favourites from the past and present, including Micky Dolenz from The Monkees, gathered to celebrate the 75th anniversary of NBC.
In 2011 at another TCA press tour, PBS brought Owens, Tomlin, Worley, Buzzi and producer George Schlatter together for a “Pioneers of Television” salute. They were having so much fun up on the panel they barely noticed any of us reporters out front.
Buzzi did tell the story about her audition before Schlatter for Laugh-In. She had already played the hair-netted spinster character, then known as Agnes Gooch, in a school production of “Auntie Mame.” When she moved to the Big Apple in the ’60s, she took note of the “Keep New York City clean” campaign. “So I thought, shoot, wouldn’t it be funny if I took a picture of myself in a wastepaper basket, dressed as Gladys. So that’s what I did. I had a friend lift me in the basket, and she took the picture of me in there, ‘Keep New York City clean.’ In other words, I had thrown myself away to keep New York City clean.”
Said Schlatter, “That was the end of her audition.”
Buzzi added that she loved going to work on the series. “Because I had been on a couple of shows before where all you need is one person to be really nasty, you know, where you dread walking into the studio. But never, never on this show.”
Schlatter praised Buzzi at the PBS session. He suggested that, when it came to sketch players in 2011, “There isn’t a Ruth Buzzi on television now. Tina Fey is Tina Fey, but there’s nobody that’s that kind of multiple character since Gilda.” Whoa, don’t leave out Kristen Wiig, Tomlin insisted; Schlatter agreed Wiig was in that class.
For over 40 years Buzzi lived with her husband, actor Kent Perkins, on their 600-acre cattle and horse ranch near Stephenville, Texas. While she had retired from showbusiness she maintained a robust presence on social media. Buzzi’s joke tweets were some of the best ever. For example:
- “I just heard they have a new dating system for people my age — Carbon dating,” she tweeted.
- Another: “Don’t you hate spelling errors! Mix up a couple of letters and your whole post is urined.”
- One more: “I dreamed disco was making a huge comeback. At first I was afraid. I was petrified.”
- Then there is… “When one door closes, another one opens. Other than that it’s a pretty good car.”
- My personal favourite: “Two dyslexics walked into a bra.”
- Finally: “I just saw a casket for sale on Facebook marketplace and thought to myself that’s the last thing I’ll ever need.”
One of the most famous bits between Buzzi and Johnson took place in their familiar roles on their park bench. Johnson’s lecherous old coot saddles up beside Gladys and says, “Do you believe in the hereafter?’ “Yes,” says Gladys, nervously. “Then you know what I’m here after.”
Now they are both in the hereafter, with Johnson passing first in 2019 at 90. Before they left, those two made many of us laugh out loud for years on television. Condolences to Buzzi’s family and friends and her many fans around the world.
