In the days following Bosom Buddies star Peter Scolari’s death, the beloved actor’s co-star, Tom Hanks paid tribute during a visit to Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night talk show Tuesday night. In an emotional segment during the broadcast, Hanks teared up while talking about his good friend who had passed away at the age of 66 following a two-year battle with cancer.
Speaking about their time together on the set of their ABC sitcom following two young single ad men disguising themselves as women to live in the only apartment they could afford, the show, which ran from 1980 to 1982, gave the pair plenty of time to bond as they found much acclaim from the show. “Peter walked onto the set saying, ‘We have a guy who’s going to be the other bosom buddy, he’s already done two fabulous shows that have been canceled, and this, we think, could be the third,’” Hanks said.ย
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Going on to add how he would “miss him every day,” Hanks adds how while he is unsure “how people truly do change your lives when you cross paths with them,” he knows Scolari was an important part of his life. “We met, picked up the scripts, and started screwing around. I actually thought, ‘This is it. This is how this works. This is like a hand inside a glove,’” he said, later adding how the pair were “molecularly connected in a way that we started speaking the same language.”
Sharing how the pair were magic on camera, Hanks reveals they were also a handful, disclosing a story of how the two were “monkeying” around with the script one day. With the pair making up new lines and the studio trying their hardest to reel it in, Hanks says the directors began yelling at them for teasingly workshopping and ad-libbing lines. After the pair were threatened that another director would come into steer the episode, Hanks says Scolari offered to replace the director when offered the chance.
Kimmel cuts to a clip Hanks offered to share from a 1981 episode, “Who’s on Thirst?” of their characters Kip (Hanks) and Henry (Scolari) spend a weekend in a mountain cabin without anything to eat or drink. Following the segment, Hanks seems to be holding back tears. “Peter has a lovely family. His wife Tracy’s got absolutely great kids and we lost him to the emperor of all maladies. So thanks for letting us show that.”
Scolari, who also appeared Newhart and HBO’s Girls, died Oct. 22 with his death confirmed by his manager Ellen Lubin Sanitsky. In 2016, he won an Emmy for his performance of Tad Horvath on the HBO drama. Prior to that acclaim, he was also nominated for three Emmys for his role as Michael Harris in the CBS comedy Newhart co-starring Bob Newhart. Most recently, Scolari was seen in the second season of Evil, on which he played Bishop Tomas Marx.ย
