Tom Poston, RIP

[GA Russell]

Tom Poston died today. He was 85! I remember him well each week on The Steve Allen Show.

I also remember him as a regular on To Tell the Truth. From time to time the guest would be someone related to jazz. Poston would never fail to ask the contestants, "What instrument does Miles Davis play?" Then, when each panelist would reveal whom he voted for, Poston would say EVERY TIME "Miles is a friend of mine."

Here's his obit from the LA Times website:

Tom Poston, a master at playing clueless sidekicks, dies at 85

From the Associated Press

1:44 PM PDT, May 1, 2007

Tom Poston, the tall, pasty-faced comic who found fame and fortune playing a clueless everyman on such hit television shows as "Newhart" and "Mork and Mindy," has died. He was 85.

Poston, who was married to Suzanne Pleshette of "The Bob Newhart Show," died Monday night at home after a brief illness, a family representative, Tanner Gibson, said Tuesday. The nature of his illness was not disclosed.

Poston's run as a comic bumbler began with "The Steve Allen Show" after Allen plucked the character actor from the Broadway stage to join an ensemble of eccentrics he would conduct "man in the street" interviews with.

Don Knotts was the shaky Mr. Morrison, Louis Nye was the suave, overconfident Gordon Hathaway and Poston's character was so unnerved by the television cameras that he couldn't remember who he was. He won an Emmy playing "The Man Who Can't Remember His Name."

But when Allen moved the show from New York to Los Angeles in 1959, Poston stayed behind.

"Hollywood's not for me right now; I'm a Broadway cat," he told a reporter at the time.

When he did finally move west, he quickly began appearing in variety shows, sitcoms and films.

His movie credits included "Cold Turkey," "The Happy Hooker," "Rabbit Test" and, more recently, "Christmas With the Kranks," "Beethoven's 5th" and "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement."

On "Mork and Mindy," which starred Robin Williams as a space alien, Poston was Franklin Delano Bickley, the mindless boozer with the annoying dog. On "Newhart," he was George Utley, the handyman who couldn't fix anything at the New England inn that Bob Newhart ran. And on Newhart's show "Bob," he was the star's dim-bulb former college roommate.

"These guys are about a half-step behind life's parade," Poston commented in a 1983 interview. "The ink on their instruction sheets is beginning to fade. But they can function and cope and don't realize they are driving people up the walls.

"In ways I don't like to admit, I'm a goof-up myself," Poston continued. "It's an essential part of my character. When these guys screw up it reminds me of my own incompetence with the small frustrations of life."

Goof-up or not, Poston was a versatile actor who made his Broadway debut in 1947 playing five roles in Jose Ferrer's "Cyrano de Bergerac."

One role called for him to engage in a duel, fall 10 feet, roll across the stage and vanish into the orchestra pit. Other actors had auditioned and failed but Poston, who in his youth had been an acrobat with the Flying Zepleys, did the stunt perfectly.

He went on to play secondary roles in Broadway comedies and starred at regional theaters in such shows as "Romanoff and Juliet" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." For 10 years he was also a panelist on the popular TV quiz show "To Tell the Truth."

He made guest appearances on scores of television shows, including "Studio One," "The Phil Silvers Show," "The Defenders," "Get Smart," "The Bob Newhart Show," "The Love Boat," "St. Elsewhere," "The Simpsons," "Coach," "Murphy Brown," "Home Improvement," "Touched by an Angel," "Will & Grace," "Dream On," "Just Shoot Me!" and "That '70s Show."

Poston and his first wife, Jean Sullivan, had a daughter, Francesca, before their marriage ended in divorce. He married his second wife, Kay Hudson, after they met while appearing in the St. Louis Light Opera, and they had a son, Jason, and daughter, Hudson.

Poston and Pleshette, who had appeared together in the 1959 Broadway play "The Golden Fleecing," had had a brief fling before marrying other people. Both now widowed, they reunited in 2000 and married the following year.

Their paths had crossed on "The Bob Newhart Show" in the 1970s. Poston made several guest appearances on the sitcom in which Pleshette played Newhart's wife.

In 2006, Pleshette underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer that her agent said was caught at an early stage.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 17, 1921, Thomas Poston moved from city to city as a child as his father hunted for work during the Depression. As a teenager, he made money as a boxer.

Following two years at Bethany College, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and flew troops to the European war zone during World War II.

Hunting for a postwar occupation, Poston read an interview with Charles Jehlinger, creative head of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and was inspired to sign up for a two-year course at the Academy.

Besides Pleshette, Poston is survived by his children, Francesca Hudson and Jason Poston.

A private service was planned for immediate family. Details of a public memorial service were to be announced later.

[Dan Gould]

I'm too young to remember his earliest appearances but I always enjoyed him on the Newhart show and Mork & Mindy. Had a real gift for those roles. RIP.

[Big Al]

RIP, Mr. C

My apologies to the memory of Mr. Poston; for as long as I've been alive, I've been mixing up his name with Tom Bosley.

Tom Poston had one of those great faces, that no matter what he was doing you couldn't help but laugh!

Edited May 3, 2007 by Big Al

[Tim McG]

His deadpan look and delivery were priceless.

RIP, Tom.

[ValerieB]

saw him last year and he didn't look well but he was always a favorite of mine. he also looked like he was a very sweet person.

you'll be missed, tom. rest well. you had a magnificent run.

[7/4]

Wow, I'll miss him. He always cracked me up.

[alocispepraluger102]

the steve allen ensemble was magnificent. rarely have i laughed so......

[BERIGAN]

I saw a clip of him on TV from the late 40's a few years back! I think only Betty White has had as long a career on TV. At first, his character on Newhart irritated me a lot, but over time, I grew to realize he was really a comic genius, and loved whatever goofy lines, or ways he would deliver the goofy lines, that made them better than the writer could have dreamed.

I few sorry for Suzanne Pleshette, two of her husbands have died.....Rest in Peace.

[Herb]

RIP, Tom! I watched him on the Steve Allen Show and followed him from then on. He was a comic genius. Did I miss it or did the reviewer in the first post leave out his starring role in the movie "Zotz!"?

[RDK]

RIP, Tom! I watched him on the Steve Allen Show and followed him from then on. He was a comic genius. Did I miss it or did the reviewer in the first post leave out his starring role in the movie "Zotz!"?

Zotz! is a childhood favorite. My first exposure to Mr. Poston. RIP.

[RDK]

Probably should start another thread for this, but actor Dabbs Greer also passed away the other day. I never met the man myself, but he was a very dear friend of a coworker of mine. You'd almost certainly recognize him...

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...news-obituaries

[Jazzmoose]

You'd almost certainly recognize him...

Indeed I do!

[RDK]

Thanks, Mark. I had to run and didn't get a chance to post a photo.

[MoGrubb]

I remember him back as far as Steve Allen. He could portray a guy with having the least confidence in the world and make me laugh, not feel sorry for him. Rip Mr. Tom Poston.

[Tim McG]

I remember him back as far as Steve Allen. He could portray a guy with having the least confidence in the world and make me laugh, not feel sorry for him. Rip Mr. Tom Poston.

I remember him from the Steve Allen days, too.

During the week, I would rush home from school just to catch his show...Tom Poston was hilarious! But I liked his character on the Bob Newhart show the best. He was so good at timing his delivery to catch you off guard.

Great memories....

[Neal Pomea]

Like the time on Newhart when someone plays 3 or 4 notes on a piano and George exclaims "Boy, he can really make that thing talk!"

[Kalo]

Sad news. I always enjoyed his appearances as "The Peeper" on The Bob Newhart Show.

[BruceH]

I'll also always remember him as "The Peeper"---but wow, what a career he had.