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Los Angeles Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Ruth Buzzi, who played a purse-wielding spinster on ‘Laugh-In,' dies at 88
Ruth Buzzi, famous for her work as handbag-wielding spinster Gladys Ormphby on 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In,' died Thursday, her family announced Friday. The actor was 88. 'Ruth Buzzi died peacefully in her sleep at home in Texas,' read the note on Facebook. 'She was in hospice care for several years with Alzheimer's disease.' Buzzi's husband of more than 40 years, Kent Perkins, announced in July 2022 that she had suffered 'devastating strokes' that left her bedridden and incapacitated. 'I am living with an attitude of gratitude for 43 years of marriage to my best friend, the greatest person I ever met, the one and only Ruth Buzzi,' he wrote at the time on social media. 'Her love for others knows no bounds, and she has spent a lifetime making people smile.' She could still speak, understand and recognize her friends and loved ones at that point, he said. Early Thursday he wrote on Facebook that Buzzi had 'asked me to thank all of you for being so good to her for so many years. She wants you to know she probably had more fun doing those shows than you had watching them.' The performer was born July 24, 1936, in Rhode Island and raised in Connecticut. She enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts, which was affiliated with Southern California's Pasadena Playhouse from 1928 to 1968 and had more than 5,000 students over the years. She was in every episode of NBC's 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In' (1967-73), where she honed her comedic role as a park-bench spinster, and was among many cast members to utter the line 'Sock it to me.' That came after Buzzi became a fixture on television in the late '60s with appearances on 'The Monkees' (1967) and 'The Steve Allen Comedy Hour' (1967) and a part on 'That Girl' (1967-68). 'You can't find anyone funnier than Goldie Hawn or Ruth Buzzi or Arte Johnson,' 'Laugh-In' creator and executive producer George Schlatter told The Times in 2019. Buzzi herself told The Times in 2011 about working with John Wayne on the variety show. 'John Wayne loved us so much. He would do just about anything you would ask him to do. He did one sketch where he was Gladys' husband,' she said, referring to her famous spinster character. 'They had me wearing a little bitty cowboy hat and little bitty guns. I had to hit him, and I kept hitting him waiting for them to say cut. I turned around and said, 'Please, I don't want to hit this man.' It was so funny they put [the aside] in the show.' Among her more recent acting credits were the 2009 film 'City of Shoulders and Noses,' 'Fallen Angels' (2006) and multiple episodes of 'Passions' (2003), and she played Suzie Kabloozie in 86 episodes of 'Sesame Street.' Her final credit came in 2021 when she played Agnes in the movie 'One Month Out.' This story is developing and will be updated. Former Times staff writer Lauren Beale contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Times
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Bobby Sherman's wife says teen idol's body is ‘shutting down' due to terminal illness
Bobby Sherman's body is 'shutting down' as he approaches the end of his battle with Stage 4 kidney cancer, according to his wife, Brigitte Poublon. 'He was doing crossword puzzles with me in the last few days. And then all of a sudden Saturday, he turned around and … he's just sleeping more and his body's not working anymore. It's not,' Poublon told Fox News Digital in a phone interview published Wednesday. 'Everything's shutting down.' Poublon confirmed to Fox that Sherman has kidney cancer that has 'spread everywhere.' She had announced March 25 on Facebook that the 81-year-old, a teen idol in the 1960s, was very ill. 'As many of you know, Bobby has been retired for some time and is no longer able to participate in cameos, sign autographs, or make appearances,' she wrote in that post, addressing her husband's 'cherished fans.' 'It is with a heavy heart that we share Bobby has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. During this challenging time, we kindly ask for your understanding and respect for our privacy. Thank you so much for still remembering him. We really appreciate it.' Sherman had returned home and was getting 'special care,' Poublon told Fox. 'His last words from the hospital last night were, 'Brig, I just want to go home.' ' Sherman was known for his 'bubble gum music' of the late '60s, having shot to fame after playing fan favorite Jeremy Bolt on 'Here Come the Brides,' a TV series that aired from 1968 to 1970. He started recording in 1962, then earned his first gold record in 1969 with the single 'Little Woman.' He scored more hits with 'Easy Come, Easy Go,' 'Julie, Do Ya Love Me' and 'La La La (If I Had You).' After a one-episode gig playing a singer on 'The Monkees' in 1968, he appeared in 'The Partridge Family' in 1971 as songwriter Bobby Conway. He then spun off out of that episode as the same character in the comedy 'Getting Together,' which ran for a single season. Sherman stepped away from the entertainment industry to do public service work; he was a volunteer paramedic, a technical reserve police officer with the LAPD and a reserve deputy sheriff with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. But he still appeared periodically on TV through the 1970s and into the mid-1980s on shows including 'The Love Boat,' 'Fantasy Island,' 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Emergency!,' then showed up on an episode of 'Frasier' in 1997. 'I think it's important that Bobby realizes the impact he left on the world, the music he left behind, the TV series he left behind, but mostly, too, his love for caring about people, being a paramedic, a cop,' Poublon told Fox. 'I want to have him realize how many people he really influenced, how he touched lives.' On Tuesday, she said on Facebook, 'Thank you for all the love and support you've given us this week. Bobby is terminally ill and resting comfortably. Only well wishes are accepted please.' Poublon, who married Sherman in 2010, is his second wife.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
1960s teen idol Bobby Sherman diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer
Former teen idol Bobby Sherman, who rocketed to fame in the 1960s as an actor and musician, has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, according to his family. The multi-talented pop sensation's wife, Brigitte Poublon, posted the devastating news on Facebook on Tuesday. 'To all of Bobby Sherman's cherished fans, as many of you know, Bobby has been retired for some time and is no longer able to participate in cameos, sign autographs, or make appearances,' Poublon wrote. 'It is with a heavy heart that we share Bobby has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.' The post featured a black-and-white image of the star's headshot when he was younger and a separate image that featured his piercing blue eyes. 'During this challenging time, we kindly ask for your understanding and respect for our privacy,' Poublon added. 'Thank you so much for still remembering him. We really appreciate it.' The post was shared over 1,500 times as his fans sent their prayers for the beloved entertainer. 'Bobby was my first celebrity crush, who impacted my young adolescent years,' a commenter wrote under the post. '[I] had the pleasure of seeing him in San Diego when he performed. Loved him dearly then and still do now. Will never ever forget the love I had for him 'til the day I die. Sending positive vibes to him and his family.' 'Prayers for Bobby and you, Brigitte, as well as all of Bobby's family. So sad to hear about this diagnosis,' another commented. The Santa Monica native began his entertainment career as a guest star in television shows like 'Honey West' and 'The Monkees' before scoring the breakout role of Jeremy Bolt in the series 'Here Comes The Brides' in 1968. The television star then skyrocketed into a celebrity crush for many teens in the '60s and '70s. During that time, he also released 10 albums with charting songs like 'Little Woman,' 'Easy Come, Easy Go' and 'Julie, Do Ya Love Me.' The 81-year-old has appeared on 'Fantasy Island,' 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'The Love Boat.' Sherman's last documented acting credit was appearing as himself on an episode of 'Frasier' in 1997. He eventually left the entertainment business to teach CPR and first aid classes through the Los Angeles Police Department before he became a technical Reserve Police Officer in the 1990s, according to the US First Responders Association. He welcomed two children, Christopher Noel Sherman and Tyler Carnel Sherman, with his first wife, Patricia Anne Carnel. He and Carnel were married from 1971 to 1977. He married Poublon in 2011.
