Bob Elliott obit

Bob Elliott, Half of the Deadpan Bob and Ray Comedy Team, Dies at 92

 He was not on the list.

Bob Elliott, one-half of the Fifties comedy duo Bob and Ray and father of comedian Chris Ellott, passed away Tuesday at his home in Cundy’s Harbor, Maine. He was 92. Chris Elliott confirmed his father’s passing to the New York Times. No cause of death was given.

The partnership between Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding began in Boston in the late Forties, with the duo eventually headlining their own radio, TV and stage show. As part of the team’s The Bob and Ray Show television program, Elliott popularized characters like reporter Wally Ballou, sportscaster Biff Burns and “Harlow … P … Whitcomb,” the president of the Slow Talkers of America. The series ran for only two years but Bob and Ray continued collaborating after its cancellation.

David Letterman was an admirer and frequently had Elliott and Goulding on his Late Night NBC program. “The funniest people in this country, these guys are also two of the keenest observers of the American scene and the finest interviewers in the business,” Letterman said of the duo prior to one interview. Letterman would eventually hire Chris Elliott to be a runner for his Late Night, a role that eventually blossomed into a staff writer.

“[Letterman] told me that he’d tried a number of times to book Bob and Ray on The Tonight Show when he was filling in for Johnny,” Chris Elliott told Rolling Stone in 2008. “But he hadn’t had any luck.”

Goulding passed away in 1990 at the age of 68.

 

Later, Bob Elliott continued to show up on the small screen, appearing on Saturday Night Live, Happy Days and Newhart; Elliott’s 1978 cameo on SNL meant that three generations of the family appeared on the sketch comedies series, as both son Chris and granddaughter Abby were one-time cast members. Bob Elliott was also cast to play the father of his own son on Chris’ sitcom Get a Life, and again played his son’s father on screen for the 1994 film Cabin Boy. Elliott also lent his vocal talents to A Prairie Home Companion.

 

“My hero, who was ceaselessly encouraging to me,” Keith Olbermann tweeted following news of Elliott’s passing. “For my money, we lost an American hero today. Rest in peace, Bob Elliott, and thank you for everything.”

 

 

 

Filmography

 

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1959    Test Dive Buddies            Bob            Short film directed by Ed Graham Jr.

1960    Kid Gloves  Bob            Short film directed by Ed Graham Jr.

1971    Cold Turkey Hugh Upson/David Chetley/Sandy Van Andy            Satirical comedy film directed by Norman Lear.

1980            Vengeance       Luke            Directed and written by Bob Bliss.

1981    B.C.: A Special Christmas            Peter (voice)            American animated short film directed by Vlad Goetzelman.

1982    Author! Author!            Patrick Dicker            American comedy drama film directed by Arthur Hiller and written by Israel Horovitz.

1984    Kidco            Policeman #2            Comedy film directed by Ronald F. Maxwell.

1987    The Gnomes' Great Adventure            Fred    

American animated film directed by Harvey Weinstein and released by Miramax Films.

Based on The World of David the Gnome.

1990    Quick Change Bank Guard  

Crime comedy film written by Howard Franklin, produced by and starring Bill Murray, and directed by both.

Despite not being a major commercial success, the film was well received critically.

1994    Cabin Boy      William Mayweather    

Fantasy comedy film directed by Adam Resnick.

Hip hop producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura named his publishing company, Sharkman Music, after the film.[18]

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1951–53            Bob and Ray            Co-Host     15-minute television series on NBC.

1972            Between Time and Timbuktu            Bud Williams, Jr.     

Made-for-TV-Movie

Directed by Fred Barzyk.

Based on a number of works by Kurt Vonnegut.

1976    The David Steinberg Show            Guest            Episode: "Episode #1.1 (Pilot)"

1978            Saturday Night Live            Interviewer            Episode: "Elliott Gould/Peter Tosh"

1979    Happy Days    Gil Crawford            Episode: "Here Comes the Bride, Again"

1981    The Steve Allen Comedy Hour            Guest            Episode: "Episode #1.22"

1985            Trapper John, M.D.            Zeke Rainey            Episode: "A False Start"

1986    Action Family  The Vendor

Made-for-TV-Movie

Directed by Gary Weis.

1987    FDR: A One Man Show   Make-Up Man          

Made-for-TV-Movie

Directed by Matt Wickline.

1988    Coming of Age  Guest            Episode: "Hale to the Chief"

Newhart            Bill Loudon            Episode: "I Came, I Saw, I Sat"

1990–92            Get a Life      Fred Peterson            Contract role

1999            LateLine          Wally Van Horn            Episode: "The Minister of Television"

2008    King of the Hill  Edgar Hornsby (voice)            Episode: "Square-Footed Monster"