Off The Record
Ruth Buzzi, Star Of Classic Sketch Comedy Show ‘Laugh-In,’ Dies At Age 88
Ruth Buzzi, a comedian from the 1970s, passed away at the age of 88.
According to her official Facebook profile, she died on Monday at home in Texas while receiving hospice care.
After receiving an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2012, the celebrity suffered a stroke in 2022 that left him incapacitated.
The comedian’s most well-known role was as the lead of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, an NBC variety sketch comedy program that ran from 1968 until 1973. She garnered five Emmy nods and a Golden Globe for the show. Goldie Hawn was her costar.
Additionally, Ruth had appearances on a number of well-known television programs, including Freaky Friday (1976), Days of Our Lives, The Carol Burnett Show, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Berenstain Bears, and The Pink Panther.
One Month Out, which she starred in in 2021, was her final acting credit.
Lucille Ball, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Marlo Thomas, and Johnny Carson were among Ruth’s close pals in the 1970s.
Buzzi grew up in Stonington, Connecticut, after being born in Rhode Island.
When she was just 19 and still a student, she got her first job performing live in a comedy and musical act with singer Rudy Vallee.
After graduating from college, she relocated to New York City, where she collaborated with Carol Burnett, Barbra Streisand, Joan Rivers, Dom DeLuise, and Bernadette Peters.
Ruth also made appearances in a lot of TV ads.
In 1964, she made her television debut alongside Dom DeLuise on The Garry Moore Show. After then, the celebrity made appearances on The Entertainers (1964–65).
She costarred with Gwen Verdon, the wife of Bob Fosse, in the original cast of Sweet Charity in 1966–1967.
The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, a variety show featuring Steve Allen, followed.
She later got a role on her most popular show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, in which she portrayed Doris Swizzler, Busy-Buzzi, Flicker Farkle, and one of the Burbank Airlines Stewardesses.
She also played Margie Peterson, a friend of Marlo Thomas, on That Girl.
In Alice (1981), Buzzi also had a cameo as Chloe, the spouse of Henry Beesmeyer (Marvin Kaplan), a worker for a telephone company.
In 1985, she also appeared as a guest star on Down to Earth. She was hired by Greg Garrison, the producer of Dean Martin’s comedy specials, which featured Dom DeLuise.
She also appeared on a number of variety shows presented by Glen Campbell and Leslie Uggams, including Emergency!, Tony Orlando and Dawn, The Monkees, The Flip Wilson Show, The Dean Martin Music and Comedy Hour, The Carol Burnett Show, and the Dean Martin Roasts.
She also served as a celebrity judge on The Gong Show and made sporadic appearances on game shows.
She also appeared as Mrs. Wilcox in the Lucy Makes a Hit episode of Lucille Ball’s final comedy, Life with Lucy.
She made eight appearances on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.
In 1993, Ruth appeared on Sesame Street as Ruthie, a shopkeeper.
She later appeared on Come on Over, Passions, The Muppet Show, and Saved by the Bell.
Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, Freaky Friday, The North Avenue Irregulars, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, The Villain, The Being, Surf II, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland were among the more than 20 movies in which she starred.
Buzzi shared a 600-acre cattle and horse ranch close to Stephenville, Texas, with her husband, actor Kent Perkins.
In 2012, the TV veteran received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Buzzi was said to have experienced a string of strokes in July 2022.
On May 1, 2025, Buzzi, who was 88 years old, passed away in her sleep at home in hospice care in Stephenville, Texas, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
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