LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Ruth Buzzi, who rose to fame as the frumpy and bitter Gladys Ormphby on the groundbreaking sketch comedy series 鈥淩owan & Martin鈥檚 Laugh-In鈥 and made over 200 television appearances during a 45-year career, has died at age 88.
Buzzi died Thursday at her home in Texas, says her agent Mike Eisenstadt. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and was in hospice care. Shortly before her death, her husband, Kent Perkins, had posted a statement on Buzzi’s Facebook page, thanking her many fans and telling them: 鈥淪he wants you to know she probably had more fun doing those shows than you had watching them.鈥
Buzzi won a Golden Globe and was a two-time Emmy nominee for the NBC show that ran from 1968 to 1973. She was the only regular to appear in all six seasons, including the pilot.
She was first spotted by 鈥淟augh-In鈥 creator and producer George Schlatter playing various characters on 鈥淭he Steve Allen Comedy Hour.鈥
Schlatter was holding auditions for 鈥淟augh-In鈥 when he received a picture in the mail of Buzzi in her Ormphby costume, sitting in a wire mesh trash barrel. The character was clad in drab brown with her bun covered by a hairnet knotted in the middle of her forehead.
鈥淚 think I hired her because of my passion for Gladys Ormphby,鈥 he wrote in his 2023 memoir 鈥淪till Laughing A Life in Comedy.鈥 鈥淚 must admit that the hairnet and the rolled-down stockings did light my fire. My favorite Gladys line was when she announced that the day of the office Christmas party, they sent her home early.鈥
The Gladys character used her purse as a weapon against anyone who bothered her, striking people over the head. On 鈥淟augh-In,鈥 her most frequent target was Arte Johnson鈥檚 dirty old man character Tyrone F. Horneigh.
鈥淕ladys embodies the overlooked, the downtrodden, the taken for granted, the struggler,鈥 Buzzi told The Connecticut Post in 2018. 鈥淪o when she fights back, she speaks for everyone who鈥檚 been marginalized, reduced to a sex object or otherwise abused. And that鈥檚 almost everyone at some time or other.鈥
Buzzi took her act to the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts in Las Vegas, where she bashed her purse on the heads of , Dean Martin and Lucille Ball, among others.
Her other recurring characters on 鈥淟augh-In鈥 included Flicker Farkle; Busy-Buzzi, a Hollywood gossip columnist; Doris Swizzler, a cocktail-lounge regular who got drunk with husband Leonard, played by Dick Martin; and an inconsiderate flight attendant.
鈥淚 never took my work for granted, nor assumed I deserved more of the credit or spotlight or more pay than anyone else,鈥 Buzzi told The Connecticut Post. 鈥淚 was just thrilled to drive down the hill to NBC every day as an employed actor with a job to do.鈥
Buzzi remained friends through the years with 鈥淟augh-In鈥 co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jo Anne Worley.
Born Ruth Ann Buzzi on July 24, 1936, in Westerly, Rhode Island, she was the daughter of Angelo Buzzi, a nationally known stone sculptor. Her father and later her brother operated Buzzi Memorials, a gravestone and monument maker in Stonington, Connecticut, where she was head cheerleader in high school.
Buzzi enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse at age 17. Two years later, she traveled with singer Rudy Vallee in a musical and comedy act during her summer break. That earned her an Actors鈥 Equity union card before she graduated from the playhouse鈥檚 College of Theatre Arts.
Buzzi moved to New York and was immediately hired for a lead role in an off-Broadway musical revue, the first of 19 such shows she performed in on the East Coast.
She got her national television break on 鈥淭he Garry Moore Show鈥 in 1964, just after was replaced by Dorothy Loudon on the series. She played Shakundala the Silent, a bumbling magician鈥檚 assistant to Dom DeLuise鈥檚 character Dominic the Great.
Buzzi was a regular on the CBS variety show 鈥淭he Entertainers鈥 whose hosts included Burnett and .
She was in the original Broadway cast of 鈥淪weet Charity鈥 with Gwen Verdon in 1966.
Buzzi toured the country with her nightclub act, including appearances in Las Vegas.
She was a semi-regular on 鈥淭hat Girl鈥 as Marlo Thomas鈥 friend. She co-starred with Jim Nabors as time-traveling androids on 鈥淭he Lost Saucer鈥 in the mid-1970s.
Her other guest appearances included variety shows hosted by Burnett, Flip Wilson, Glen Campbell, Tony Orlando, Donny and Marie Osmond and Leslie Uggams.
She appeared in Ball鈥檚 last comedy series 鈥淟ife With Lucy.鈥
Buzzi guested in music videos with 鈥淲eird Al鈥 Yankovic, the B-52鈥檚 and the Presidents of the United States of America.
She did hundreds of guest voices in cartoon series including 鈥淧ound Puppies,鈥 鈥淏erenstain Bears,鈥 鈥淭he Smurfs鈥 and 鈥淭he Angry Beavers.鈥
She was Emmy nominated for her six-year run as shopkeeper Ruthie on 鈥淪esame Street.鈥
Her movie credits included 鈥淔reaky Friday,鈥 鈥淐hu Chu and the Philly Flash,鈥 鈥淭he North Avenue Irregulars鈥 and 鈥淭he Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again.鈥
Buzzi was active on social media and had thousands of followers whom she rewarded with such one-liners as 鈥淚 have never faked a sarcasm鈥 and 鈥淪cientists say the universe is made up entirely of neurons, protons and electrons. They seem to have missed morons.鈥
She married actor Kent Perkins in 1978.
The couple moved from California to Texas in 2003 and bought a 640-acre ranch near Stephenville.
Buzzi retired from acting in 2021 and suffered a series of strokes the following year. Her husband told The Dallas Morning News in 2023 that she had dementia.
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Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report.
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