‘Laugh-In’ Comedian Dies: Ruth Buzzi Was 88

Actress and comedian Ruth Buzzi, best known for her award-winning role as Gladys Ormphby on the sketch-comedy series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, has died. She was 88.

Buzzi passed away “peacefully in her sleep” at her home in Texas on Thursday after having been “in hospice care for several years with Alzheimer’s disease,” her family announced.

“Her husband of almost 48 years, Kent Perkins expressed to me that she was making people laugh just a few days ago,” the actress’ agent, Michael Eisenstadt, told USA TODAY. “I was Ruth’s agent for over 30 years. She was warm, loving and funny. A great person who was considered a family member.”

Born in Westerly, Rhode Island in 1936, Buzzi began her career in the entertainment industry immediately after high school with a guest spot on The Gary Moore Show. She went on to become a regular on CBS’ variety show The Entertainers, and later appeared on The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, which helped her land a role of on Laugh-In. Although the appeared in numerous roles throughout her time on the series from 1968 to 1973, including Busy Buzzi and Doris Swizzler, she is best remembered for her portrayal of Gladys Ormphby, the curmudgeonly, hair-netted whose weapon of choice was her purse. The role

Buzzi was one of only three people, and the only woman, — to appear in all 140 episodes of the series and a 1971 special. During her time on the show, she won a Golden Globe for best supporting TV actress in 1973 and also earned Primetime Emmy nominations in 1969 and 1972.

Outside of Laugh-In, Buzzi also starred as Suzie Kabloozie in Sesame Street from 1993-2006. Her other TV credits include The Lost Saucer, Days of Our Lives, The Love Boat, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Saved by the Bell. Buzzi also had a notable career as a voice actor, lending her voice to Plastic Man, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Paw Paws, The Berenstain Bears, and The Addams Family, among others.

According to Eisenstadt, Buzzi suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for 10 years. She’d faced other health issues in recent years, her husband Ken Perkins previously sharing that Buzzi suffered a series of strokes in July 2022 that left her “bedridden and incapacitated.”

“She can still speak and understand, she still recognizes all her friends and loved ones. I am reading to her your wonderful comments and she smiles,” he wrote on Facebook at the time. “She is dealing with this situation bravely, and still with humor, believe it or not… and with the love of God in her heart and soul, she thanks you for being her friend. And for the love you’ve shown her continuously for the past six decades or more…”

Buzzi is survived by Perkins, whom she married in 1978.