SciFi.Radio deeply regrets to confirm the sad news that comedienne Ruth Buzzi has died at the age of 88, passing away in Stephenville, Texas.

Ruth Ann Buzzi was born July 24, 1936 in Westerly, Rhode Island. She attended Stonington High School in Stonington, Connecticut, then went on to the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts in Pasadena, California. The talented Ms. Buzzi naturally graduated with honors in 1957. By performing in musical and comedy revues during semester breaks, she was a card carrying Union actress, a member of Actors’ Equity Association, when she graduated from college. After graduation she went to New York City, and almost immediately was cast as the lead in an off-Broadway musical revue. Thia soon led to television appearances.

In Disney’s Oscar-winning short, It’s Tough To Be A Bird., Ms. Buzzi sang “When the Buzzards Return to Hinckley Ridge,” She was credited only as Soprano.

Ruth Buzzi’s first television success was on The Garry Moore Show in 1964. She appeared as “Shakundala the Silent”, a bumbling magician’s assistant, with Dom DeLuise as the magician, Between 1963 and 1964, Ms.Buzzi was a regular on the CBS variety show, The Entertainers. By 1966, Ms. Buzzi was on Broadway, as part of the original cast of the Tony-winning play, Sweet Charity.

In 1967, Ruth Buzzi became a regular on The Steve Allen Comedy Hour. This led to her being cast in Laugh-In, where she played purse-wielding spinster Gladys Ormphby, who whacked Arte Johnson as Tyrone F. Horneigh whenever he got fresh with her, which happened in every sketch. Johnson and Buzzi recreated these characters on the 1977 cartoon Baggy Pants and the Nitwits. Buzzi reprised the character of Gladys for Dean Martin’s celebrity roasts, whacking both Martin and the guest of honor with her purse. She played Flicker Farkle, Busy-Buzzi, and Doris Swizzler. She was one of only three performers (and the only female) to appear in every episode of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, including the 1967 special, the other two being Dan Rowan and Dick Martin

In addition to her many comedy appearances on Laugh-In and The Carol Burnett Show, Ruth Buzzi starred in the live-action Saturday morning sci-fi show The Lost Saucer. She also performed many cartoon voices.

In 1978, she married actor Kent Perkins.

She was one of the producers of a little known B movie called The Being in 1981, and played a bit part in that film. While cheerful on the set during the production, years later she expressed her personal regret that she had ever been a part of the production.

Ms. Buzzi was also supposed to have been in the horror-comedy Night Falls, which began filming in 1987, but was either never completed, or was never released.

Ms. Buzzi won a Golden Globe and was a two-time Emmy nominee for the NBC show Laugh-In which ran from 1968 to 1973.

Voicework

• Granny Goodwitch in Linus the Lion-hearted She reprised the role of Granny Goodwitch in a series of Sugar Crisps cereal commercials
• Aunt Minerva in Legends of the Superheroes
• Mama Bear in The Berenstein Bears
• Nose Marie in Pound Puppies
• Mrs. Beaver in The Angry Beavers

Shortly before her death, her husband Kent Perkins had posted a statement on Buzzi’s Facebook page, thanking her many fans and telling them: “She wants you to know she probably had more fun doing those shows than you had watching them.” I don’t know about y’all, but I had a lot of fun watching ’em. Ms. Buzzi was an important part of my childhood, and I’m going to miss her.

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