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Actress and comedian Ruth Buzzi, who rose to fame in the 1968 to 1973 NBC variety/sketch comedy Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, died on May 1. She was 88.
“Ruthie left us while peacefully sleeping yesterday evening at home. She’d been in hospice care, disabled from a stroke in 2022 following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s ten years earlier,” read a message from her family on Facebook.
Born July 24, 1936 in Westerly, Rhode Island, Ruth Buzzi’s first job in show business was at age 19, traveling with singer Rudy Vallee in a live musical and comedy act during her summer break from college. She moved to New York City after graduation and was hired for a lead role in an off-Broadway musical revue, the first of 19 in which she performed around the East Coast.
Buzzi debuted on television in variety series The Garry Moore Show in 1964, and she was a member of the ensemble on the The Entertainers in 1965. Following a guest spot on sitcom The Monkees in 1967, she landed the recurring role of Margie “Pete” Peterson on the Marlo Thomas comedy That Girl. Other guest appearances followed, including Night Gallery, Here’s Lucy and Love, American Style until her big break came with Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in.
“We laughed, and laughed, and laughed. It never even felt like I was going to work. It was pure spontaneous fun,” said Buzzi at a session on Laugh-In at the Television Critics Winter Press Tour in 2011.
Buzzi was one of only four cast members who were regulars on the breakout hit for its entire six season run. Among her recurring characters on Laugh-In were spinster Gladys Ormphby; Busy-Buzzi, a gossip columnist; Doris Swizzler, a cocktail-lounge patron who always got smashed with husband Leonard (Dick Martin); one of the Burbank Airlines Stewardesses; and Flicker Farkle.
Following Laugh-In, Buzzi appeared opposite Jim Nabors in the Saturday morning comedy The Lost Saucer from Sid and Marty Krofft from 1975 to 1976. In 1979, she co-starred on the Canadian children’s comedy show Whatever Turns You On and was active both as a guest star and a voice actor in dozens of TV series (including CHiPs, Alice, Days of Our Lives, Trapper John, M.D., Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Addams Family and The Pink Panther).
In 1993, Buzzi joined the cast of Sesame Street as shopkeeper, Ruthie, as part of the Around the Corner set expansion. She also voiced Suzie Kabloozie and her pet cat, Feff in animated inserts that were shown on the show from 1994 to 2008.
Buzzi also appeared in numerous TV commercials, including Clorox 2, Clairol and Ban roll-on deodorant, and she voiced Granny Goodwitch for Sugar Crisp cereal. She had a nightclub act across the United States, including at The Sahara and MGM Grand hotels in Las Vegas. She appeared eight times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. And her film resume included ding Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, Freaky Friday, The North Avenue Irregulars and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again.
Memorial arrangements will be made by Lacy Funeral Home on Stephenville, Texas. with the details to be announced. The family requests donating to Alzheimer’s research (www.alz.org) in lieu of flowers.
