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,
It always seemed to me that Arte Johnson should have been a much bigger TV star. As The New York Times notes in their obituary of Johnson, who died Wednesday in Los Angeles at 90, the actor/comedian was “a one-man ensemble.” I first became aware of Johnson, as did many others, as one of the
There was a time when all you had to do was cup your ear and, before you even spoke, everybody knew you were doing a Gary Owens impression. The man with that unmistakable announcer’s voice died Friday at 80. Owens was already a seasoned radio hand when he became a TV star—along with Goldie Hawn,