Somehow, Ruth Buzzi sounds like a stage name, but it isn't. Her father, a sculptor born in the Italian side of Switzerland, settled in Rhode Island before Ruth's birth.
Her iconic, celebrity-producing role was on the comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," where she played the grumpy, scary-looking spinster Gladys Ormphby. A hairnet with a knot in it gave the appearance of a hole in her forehead. Audiences laughed their heads off at her purse-wielding disgust when assailed by dirty-old-man Tyrone Horneigh, played by tiny Artie Johnson. Their little duets usually took place on a park bench.
Although her celebrity came mainly from "Laugh-In," Buzzi had earlier played on Broadway and had appeared in "That Girl," "The Gary Moore Show," and with Steve Allen.
"Laugh-In" ran from 1968 to 1973. Thereafter, Buzzi appeared in many other TV shows and in a modest number of movies. Below appears Buzzi with dashing actor Ricardo Montalban rather than Arte Johnson.
No comments:
Post a Comment