To Absent Friends - Ruth Buzzi

 

Ruth Buzzi

1936-2025

From Her "Laugh-In" Heyday

The death of actress Ruth Buzzi this past weekday the age of 88 made me realize just how long ago it was when "Rowen & Martin's Laugh-In" was must-see-TV before that term was ever invented.  I mean it debuted in 1967 so we are closing in on SIXTY YEARS now, folks.  My point is that there are multiple generations of folks out there with no memory of that show, and who probably have no idea who Ruth Buzzi was.

She was a regular player on that classic sketch comedy show, with her most memorable character being Gladys Ormphby, the little spinster lady who was constantly being approached by dirty old man Tyrone F. Horneigh, played by Arte Johnson.  It  was a stock bit every week on the show, and Ms Buzzi's passing gives me an opportunity to post THIS BIT, one of my all-time favorites.

When I looked up Ruth Buzzi in IMDB, I was surprised to see that she had 129 acting credits listed, including a movie from 2021 called "One Month Out", and, no, I've never heard of it either, but, presumably, Ruth earned a paycheck for it, so good for her.  Most of her post-"Laugh-In" work seems to have been as a voice actress in animated features.  Her early days included spots on shows such as The Monkees, That Girl, and Here's Lucy, and, of course, once he became a regular on Laugh-In, there were the requisite appearances on shows such as Love, American Style, and The Love Boat.  Doesn't appear that she ever made it to Fantasy Island, though.

And, yes, I do have a personal Ruth Buzzi story.  Back in the late 1960's, Rowen & Martin cashed in on the popularity of the show by taking Laugh-In on the road for summer stock shows, and that included a week with Pittsburgh's Civic Light Opera.  I wasn't driving them, so I remember my parents driving my sister and I down to the Arena one night for us to see the show.  As they dropped us off (can you imagine parents doing that today?) outside of the Center Avenue gate of the Arena, who comes walking up Center Avenue but Ruth Buzzi and castmate Inga Neilsen, a statuesque blonde bombshell Swedish actress who was often cast as a contrasting glamorous  foil to Buzzi's Gladys character.  They were obviously walking from their Chatham Center Hotel.  Both were dressed quite plainly and Ms Neilsen had her hair in curlers.  Neither was exemplifying show biz glamour at that particular moment.  Anyway, we saw them, they saw that we saw them, and Ruth Buzzi gave a quite pleasant wave and said "Hello" as they walked into the Arena to prepare for that evening's performance.  

RIP Ruth Buzzi.