Wednesday, December 4, 2024

RIP Jay Thomas, Comedian, Actor from “Cheers,” “Murphy Brown,” “Mork and Mindy,” Popular Radio Host

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Sad to report that Jay Thomas has died at age 69 from cancer.

Thomas was a radio deejay who moonlighted as a popular TV actor. Or he was a popular TV actor and comic who moonlighted as a deejay.

His nine appearances on “Murphy Brown” earned him an Emmy nomination. He also appeared nine times on “Cheers” as Carla’s second husband, Eddie, the race car driver.

Thomas also had 20 episodes of “Mork and Mindy” with Robin Williams. His resume is endless. He was a welcome presence on those shows, able to handle comedy and drama.

More recently, he was a deejay on Sirius XM. He’d had radio shows for years. He will be sorely missed.

Jay appeared on Letterman for years. Here was his last show in 2014.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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