Today's 'honoree' isn't actually responsible for the quote that comprises today's title. So shoot me. He didn't pass away yesterday, either. He passed on the 14th, although reports didn't surface until late yesterday.
Henry Gibson, born James Bateman in Philadelphia, died of cancer at his home in Malibu, California. He was 73.
Gibson created his comic persona, a pun on playwright Henrik Ibsen's name, while working as a theater actor in New York. It doesn't surprise, when one admires the stunning range of roles Gibson would inhabit, to find that he served as an Air Force intelligence officer in his younger years.
My first memories of Gibson (to date myself a bit...) are from the hilarious "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" and over the course of a 40-plus year career he turned in strong performances in many classics, including "The Blues Brothers", "Wedding Crashers", the Pauly Shore epic "Bio-Dome" (did Pauly just gnaw on Stephen Baldwin's toenails?) and of course the masterpiece from which our title's Rick Ducommun quote is pulled from, "The 'burbs".
His towering presence overshadowed the diminutiveness of his 5' 3'' frame. He was a comic giant. He will not soon be forgotten.
"I've never seen anybody drive their garbage down to the street and bang the hell out of it with a stick. I-I've never seen that." - Ray Petersen (Tom Hanks, yes Tom Hanks, in "The 'burbs")
Henry Gibson 1935 - 2009
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