Actress Ruth Buzzi dies at 88

Actress and comedienne Ruth Buzzi died May 1, 2025 from complications of Alzheimer's disease at her home near Mingus, Texas. She was 88. Buzzi is best known as one of the ensemble cast of classic 1960s comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

Buzzi was born in Westerly, Rhode Island on July 24, 1936, and was raised in Stonington, Connecticut. Her father Angelo was a nationally recognized stone sculptor. At 17, Ruth enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts, and graduated with honors in June 1957. Buzzi became a working union actress before graduating, and her first show business job at 19 was touring with Rudy Vallee in a musical and comedy act during her summer break. After graduation she moved to New York City and was immediately cast in an off-Broadway musical revue, the first of nineteen in which she performed along the East Coast. During this time she worked with young performers such as Barbra Streisand, Joan Rivers, Dom DeLuise, Bernadette Peters and Carol Burnett. During this time she also appeared in several television commercials, some of which won Clio Awards.

Her first major TV appearance came in 1946 on The Garry Moore Show, with her comedy partner DeLuise in which he played a bumbling magician and she was his assistant. Buzzi then became a part of the ensemble of performers on CBS variety series The Entertainers, which had rotating hosts including Burnett and Bob Newhart. From 1966 to 1967 she was part of the original cast of Broadway musical Sweet Charity, which was her only Broadway show.

In 1967 Buzzi went back to television and was a regular on The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, a variety show that ran for eight episodes. Her performance on that show led to her casting on Laugh-In, where she created a collection of recurring characters including Flicker Farkle, youngest of the Farkle family; Busy-Buzzi, a Hedda Hopper-type Hollywood gossip columnist; Doris Swizzler, a cocktail-lounge habituée who always got smashed with husband Leonard (Dick Martin); and one of the Burbank Airlines Stewardesses, inconsiderate flight attendants (long before David Spade's SNL character was born). She was the only member of the ensemble, which included Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Henry Gibson, Judy Carne and Jo Anne Worley, to appear in every episode of the series.

Her most famous character on the show was Gladys Ormphby, a 'spinster' with a drab brown coat and hair covered by a net, usually armed with a purse which she would flail at anyone who antagonized her (usually Arte Johnson's 'dirty old man' character, Tyrone F. Horneigh). Buzzi had originally created this look when she played Agnes Gooch in a school production of Auntie Mame. The characters of Agnes and Tyrone were dubbed 'The Nitwits' by NBC publicity, and they became part of the mid-70s animated series Baggy Pants and the Nitwits, with Buzzi and Johnson voicing their characters. Buzzi continued to play Gladys after Laugh-In, appearing several times on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.

Buzzi continued to be a presence on TV with a recurring role on comedy series That Girl, with Marlo Thomas, as Ann Marie's friend Margie 'Pete' Peterson, and she had a co-starring role with Jim Nabors as hapless aliens on the Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning kids show The Lost Saucer, which aired from September 11, 1975 to September 2, 1976. In 1979 she co-starred on the Canadian children's comedy show You Can't Do That on Television. In 1977, Buzzi recorded the single 'You Oughta Hear the Song', which peaked at Number 90 on Billboard's Country Music chart, which she joked about in 2022, thanking the 'millions and millions of you who didn't buy a copy.' Buzzi contributed voice work for animated series Pound Puppies, Berenstain Bears, The Smurfs, The Angry Beavers, Sheep in the Big City and many more. In 1993 she joined the cast of Sesame Street as shopkeeper Ruthie. Buzzi also appeared in the 'Weird Al' Yankovic video Gump, and also appeared in videos for The B-52's and The Presidents of the United States of America. She also had a successful nightclub act which toured the country, and played in Las Vegas at the Sahara and the MGM Grand, where all of her shows sold out. She performed the act for a year and was offered an extension, but she declined.

Buzzi was a charter member of the Pasadena Playhouse Alumni Association. She painted as a hobby, but instead of selling her works she donated them to charity, including the Make a Wish Foundation, Special Olympics, the Thalians, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, where they would sell for up to $6000. She was also active in fundraising for the Utopian Animal Rescue Ranch in Medina, Texas, as well as other animal causes.

Buzzi was married to actor Kent Perkins. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2012, but was active on social media with a popular Twitter account. She announced her retirement in 2021. Buzzi reportedly suffered a series of strokes in 2022 but was said to be improving, however she was in hospice care at the time of her death.

Buzzi's other notable TV credits include The Monkees, That's Life, Night Gallery, Here's Lucy, Love, American Style, Lotsa Luck!, Emergency!, Medical Center, Once Upon the Brothers Grimm, Legends of the Superheroes, CHiPs, Alice, Trapper John, M.D., Days of Our Lives, Masquerade, Down to Earth, Check It Out, Life with Lucy, The Love Boat, The Munsters Today, They Came from Outer Space, Out of This World, Major Dad, The Jamie Foxx Show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Diagnosis Murder, 7th Heaven, Passions, and Come on Over.

Buzzi's film credits include The Aristocats, Freaky Friday, The Rescuers, Record City, The North Avenue Irregulars, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, The Villain, Skatetown U.S.A., Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, Surf II, Bad Guys, Dixie Lanes, Up Your Alley, My Mom's a Werewolf, Wishful Thinking, Troublemakers, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Fallen Angels, and One Month Out, her last role in 2021.