It is very difficult to work your way into a hit TV show after it has become a hit. READ THIS NEXT:The Most Hated TV Couples of All Time. He was 69. TIL actor Jay Thomas got his character, Eddie LeBec, killed off of the TV show "Cheers" when he talked about how horrible it was to kiss his character's wife, Rhea Perlman, on his radio show. TV URBAN LEGEND: Jay Thomas' character on Cheers was killed off because he called Rhea Perlman ugly. A Warner Bros. and more from FamousFix.com, See As it turns out, it appears Thomas' own big mouth got himself kicked off of the show. Always had a smile and a kind word for me, a lowly board op at KIQQ. Sometimes they are true but sometimes it is a matter of wishful thinking and they didn't get the job for other, more traditional reasons (the actor wasn't good enough for the role, there wasn't enough money in the budget to add another regular, etc.). Fans of the program still flock to various streaming services to rewatch their favorite episodes from the show. The two-time Emmy winner most recently appeared on 'Ray Donovan' and spent many a Christmas season with David Letterman. Follow him on Twitter at @Brian_Cronin and feel free to e-mail him suggestions for stories about comic books that you'd like to see featured at brianc@cbr.com! So Cheers had clearly established itself as a series where notable characters could be added to the ensemble. Updated Questions and whispers remained about why she ultimately left the show, but she was not alone in questions. Even before Coach's departure, the show had introduced a wrench into the main romantic relationship between bar owner Sam Malone and uptight waitress Diane Chambers. Help keep Rhea Perlman and Jay Thomas profile up to date. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. Triangle of Sadness Ending Explained: Does Abigail Kill Yaya? In Season 6, they got married and it seemed like Thomas would be sticking around. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. As it turns out, it appears Thomas' own big mouth got himself kicked off of the show. But, Perlman remembers the situation differently. In an oral history of Cheers published by GQ in 2012, Thomas, Perlman, and writer Ken Levine spoke about Thomas being written out of the show. Folks came and went on the sitcom, its how things go for the most part. The Behind-The-Scenes Drama On Cheers That Had Jay Thomas Written Off The Show. For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Rhea Perlman is a 74 year old American Actress. Watch popular content from the following creators: goodtimeediting (@goodtimeediting), Sumovie (@sumovie363), AlienWarr (@alienwarr), Norm! Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much 2,911, This story has been shared 2,493 times. His most recent credits include appearances on Bones, NCIS: New Orleans, and Ray Donovan.. He will be dearly missed by so many, Estey said in a statement to CNN. (1982) after making a comment during a radio show in which he made fun of Rhea Perlman's looks. Thomas also had a turn on "Cheers" as Rhea Perlman's TV-husband Eddie LeBec, a Boston Bruins hockey player who was killed by a Zamboni. And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed and Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? On the big screen he was featured in "Mr. Holland's Opus", "A Smile Like Yours", and "Santa Claus" 2 and 3. He was on the cast of Mork and Mindy for a time (20 episodes in total between 1979 and 1981). jay thomas, Other Works Thomas was 69. and one book, 100 Things X-Men Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, from Triumph Books. 2,429, This story has been shared 2,179 times. The post, titled "The kiss of death for Eddie LeBec" reports that Jay Thomas made some negative comments about the show and about Perlman on his radio show: A caller asked him what his experience working on "Cheers" was like, Levine explained in the post, and Thomas "said something to the effect of 'It's brutal. 2,493, This story has been shared 2,429 times. 1,120, This story has been shared 1,091 times. On the way, a car backed into their Volvo during a traffic jam and fled. WhenCheers came back for Season Eight, Eddie was nowhere to be seen. More recently, he appeared as tabloid journalist Marty Grossman on "Ray Donovan. "But there was a point where they [thought] maybe we would live together, and I didn't like the idea of Carla being with somebody because that would make you feel like [you're] not part of the people in the bar.". | Thomas moved to New York for a job at the FM station 99X and then did stand-up comedy at the Improv and acted in off-Broadway plays. One of the greatest strengths of the classic show is itsensemble cast, who portrayed the gang of compelling characters from the ladies' man bartender Sam Malone (Ted Danson) to his on-and-off academic girlfriend Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) who are still celebrated today. Thomas also had small but memorable parts in films such as Mr. Hollands Opus and the latter two Santa Clause movies. I mean, he got angry once, pretty late in the game about something that I wish he had told me about long before, because I made every effort to change it. In his new book, Directed by James Burrows, Cheers co-creator James Burrows tells his version ofthe story. About that Lone Ranger story: Thomas was a radio host with big hair in Charlotte in the early 70s, and he and his producer offered to give Moore wearing his crime-fighter costume and mask for an appearance at a car dealership a ride to the airport. Burrows writes, "That was it. I don't see it, so I'm willing to believe that, at the very least, Thomas' insult of Perlman was a notable cause in his removal from the show. His Lone Ranger story was the best I heard in 30 years. Jay Thomas and Rhea Perlman were in Cheers(1982) together. Actor Jay Thomas attends the SIRIUS XM. Why did the show write him, and even have him die? He won his first award as emcee of the Jesuit High School talent show. As you can imagine, important people heard that interview and were not happy about it. He said, like in a movie, "Are you sitting down?" He had a few small roles during the early 1980s, popping up on big shows like Family Ties and The Golden Girls, and in 1987 (in the middle of Season 5) he joined Cheers as Boston Bruins goalie Eddie LeBec. In the late '80s, actor Jay Thomas appeared on several episodes of Cheers as the love interestand eventual husband ofCarla Tortelli, who was played by Rhea Perlman. And it has nothing to do with Rhea. Thomas' best known-roles were on the small screen. But he didn't consider himself lucky, and in fact, complained about Rhea while he was working on the show. It's likely all going to be paraphrase since it was a radio show. 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Jay Thomas the storyteller kept a story alive year after year, and Jay Thomas the actor gave sitcom fans a story to tell year after year. Recently he has hosted shows at Carolines in NYC and the Bellagio in Vegas. His zodiac sign is Cancer. On the latter, his character winds up appearing in an ice show and gets killed by a Zamboni. On the big screen, Thomas played the Easter Bunny in the Santa Clause movies released in 2002 and 2006 and appeared in such films as Legal Eagles (1986), Straight Talk (1992),A Smile Like Yours (1997), Mr. Hollands Opus (1995) as football coach Bill Meister Dragonfly (2002) and Labor Pains (2009). Jay Thomas and Rhea Perlman were in Cheers (1982) together.. About. While obviously one of the most amazing things that can happen to an actor working in television is to be part of a show that turns out to be a major hit (look at the ways that, say, the cast of Friends went from an assortment of mostly no-names, and "Hey, that's the girl from the Bruce Springsteeen video!" "I knew they were deciding [about] whether to add me or Bebe [Neuwirth] to the cast full-time, and I thought he was calling with good news. Like on Carson, when [Don] Rickles would come out. Following his comment, Thomas was not simply written out of the showhe was written off the show through his character meeting a painful, embarrassing end. His writing has been featured at ESPN.com, the Los Angeles Times, About.com, the Huffington Post and Gizmodo. Best Picture Nominee Triangle of Sadness Is Now Streaming on Hulu, When Does 'Black Girl Missing' Premiere on Lifetime? Rhea was listening to the show and his character was killed off by a 'Zamboni incident' a few episodes later. Returning to the stage he starred in plays written and directed by Wendy Wasserstein and Woody Allen. When NYC beckoned Jay continued his eclectic career as a top rated morning DJ, comic at the Improve in NYC, and began an active off Broadway acting career, that saw him mix drama and comedy. Her zodiac sign is Aries. appreciated. 2:25 PM EDT, Fri August 25, 2017, Jay Thomas' Lone Ranger Story Letterman Dec 2014. He was on the cast of Mork and Mindy for a time (20 episodes in total between 1979 and 1981). Thomas. 2. The episode Death Takes a Holiday on Icegot rid of Eddie for good (as Deciders Joe Reid recalled in a recent list). He crossed the family." Here's an amusing post-script. He got his start on television in 1979 as Remo DaVinci, the co-owner of a New York deli, on ABCsMork & Mindy. Jay Thomas attends "Hateship Loveship" film premiere at the Cinema Society in New York, April 8, 2014. At his funeral, it was revealed that Eddie secretly had another wife. Actor Jay Thomas, who cut his teeth in the entertainment business as a legendary DJ for Charlotte radio station Big WAYS in the 1970s, has died at 69. . Deaths aren't exactly commonplace for sitcoms, so Eddie's death may leave viewers wondering if there was a real-life reason for the narrative choice. After kicking off his TV career with a supporting role in Robin Williams Mork & Mindy,Thomas became the go-to guy for sitcoms needing a pinch hitter (Family Tiesone week,The Golden Girls the next). He later landed a recurring role as the hockey-playing husband of Rhea Perlman's character on "Cheers." He won back-to-back Emmys in 1991-92 for the guest role on "Murphy Brown," playing outspoken . And The Lone . However, Jay Thomas, who played ice hockey player Eddie Lebec on the show, was killed off not too long after marrying one of the main characters in the show to Carla. In this weeks installment, Was Superman a Spy? 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. Jay Thomas and Rhea Perlman were in an on-screen matchup.. On Screen Matchups. This story has been shared 4,038 times. As it turns out, though, one notable actor dealt with some off-screen drama that affected her character's arc. 1,091. Thomas won two Emmy awards for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of Gold. Jay Thomas portrayed Eddie LeBec in nine episodes between 1987 and 1989, his biggest role since his memorable two-year run as deli owner Remo DaVinci on Mork and Mindy, and just before he'd. "Rhea came up to my office and she was furiousI'd never seen her like this. videos To explain his departure we decided to just kill him, which led to one of my favorite episodes that David and I wrote, Death Takes a Holiday on Ice. Well, Ken Levine, longtime TV comedy writer, producer and creative consultant on Cheers, backs up Thomas' version of events, noting: Rhea came up to my office and she was furious I'd never seen her like this. Has three sons in total, Jake and Sam, with wife Sally Michelson, plus another son, During the summer of 1967, Jay (then Jon Terrell) worked as an apprentice at the Ivoryton Playhouse in Ivoryton, Connecticut. Thomas played the obnoxious TV talk-show host Jerry Gold (and Candice Bergens on-again, off-again boyfriend) on CBSMurphy Brown from 1989-98 winning a pair of Emmys after his stint as Rhea Perlmans husband Eddie LeBec, a French-Canadian goalie with the Boston Bruins, on NBCsCheers. Actor Jay Thomas has died at 69. Hilariously, though, the writers made his demise rather humorous as they revealed he had another wife who looked just like Carla on the show. Login And, according to the co-creator of the series, Thomas could have appeared on even more episodes of the popular show if he hadn't insulted Perlman during a radio show. 1,836, This story has been shared 1,686 times. For Kelsey to suggest anything other is not to give himself enough credit. Heck, note that in the quote above, Thomas even says he was specifically told Perlman was not the reason. Cocktail waitress Carla Tortelli, played by Rhea Perlman, meets ice hockey player Eddie LeBec (Jay Thomas) in Season 5 and the two continue to date on-and-off for a while. His character was not just dropped but killed off - death by . And the Jay Thomas talk show airs daily on SiriusXM. He is most remembered for Mr. Holland's Opus. In addition to his work on TV, many know Thomas from his annual holiday season appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, where hed retell what Letterman once called the greatest talk show story of all time.. 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? SinceCheers was primarily set at a bar, we only saw Carlas home life when it pulled up a stool. 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Thomas has been telling the story for years, but hes not exactly the best source, as people always tend to come up with reasons for why they didnt get a particular job. "Cheers" is one of the most famous sitcoms of all-time, and has maintained its relevance over the years, following its series finale in 1993. His first TV role was in "Mork and Mindy". Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Disable on Observer.com. Thomas also starred on his own sitcom, playing an egotistical sportswriter opposite Susan Dey and then Annie Potts on CBSLove and War, a 1992-95 series created by Murphy Browns Diane English. LeBec is a hockey player for. A few episodes of recurring bliss and then one day on Jays radio show a caller asked him what it was like to be on Cheers? Jay Thomas and Rhea Perlman were in an on-screen matchup. Jay Thomas Rhea Perlman and Jay Thomas in Cheers (1982) Close 36 of 47 Jay Thomas36 of 47 Rhea Perlmanand Jay Thomasin Cheers (1982) PeopleRhea Perlman, Jay Thomas TitlesCheers Photo by NBC/NBC via Getty Images - NBC Universal, Inc. Long was a superstar on the program for years, but, ultimately, she was not long for the show as many expected when it first hit the small screen. Eddie died in a Zamboni accident off-screen, and his character was only maligned further. ), Then we needed (a) some comic spin for the story, and (b) something to discredit Eddie so the audience would ultimately be glad he was out of Carlas life. All Rights Reserved. CBR Senior Writer Brian Cronin has been writing professionally about comic books for over fifteen years now at CBR (primarily with his Comics Should Be Good series of columns, including Comic Book Legends Revealed). Levine and his writing partner David Isaacs killed Eddie off-screen in a freak Zamboni accident, and then revealed at his funeral that hed been a polygamist all along. I have to kiss Rhea Perlman., Well, guess who happened to be listening. What about Long and Ted Danson? Levine also notes that this episode ended up earning them an Emmy nod, making the whole situation a win for everyone involved except Thomas, of course. quotes, The comedy, about a bar in Boston, lost one of its main characters after the third season when Nicholas Colasanto, who played the beloved bartender Coach, passed away. He and Letterman also took turns throwing a football, trying to dislodge a meatball from the top of a Christmas tree. All the latest gaming news, game reviews and trailers. Long said, We never fought. Jay Thomas, the good-natured . Why did the show write him, and even have him die? He also found time to put in three years of small college football as a QB. And I love football, so my two big dreams were totally realized.. How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Netflix's 'Money Shot' Documentary Trailer Shines A Harsh Light On Pornhub, The "Most Trafficked Website In The World", 'The Skinny Shot' on Hulu Is An Ozempic "Documentary" That Plays More Like A Commercial, Where Is Estonia Located? It may have been even better than the original. Actor Jay Thomas, best known for his roles in the classic sitcoms "Murphy Brown" and "Cheers," has died at age 69. . What We Know, How to Watch Donald Trump's 2023 CPAC Speech: Live Stream Information, What Time Is Chris Rock's Netflix Special On Tonight? Jay Thomas, the good-natured comic actor who starred on the sitcoms Murphy Brown and Cheers, died Thursday. Thomas TV career started in the early 80s, and he quickly amassed a number of credits. She said, 'I want him off the show,'" Levine claimed. Don Buchwald, his longtime agent and friend, said Thomas died at his. Finally, and most importantly, Kirstie Alley successfully replaced the female lead Shelley Long (who played Diane) after Season 5. During the panel discussion for the 200th episode of Cheers that aired in Season 9, Thomas heckled the cast and crew (presumably as a joke) over being written off the show. How to Stream Garcelle Beauvais' New Lifetime Movie Online, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Gulmohar' on Hulu, a Hindi Family-Ties Drama Marking the Return of Sharmila Tagore, Steven Spielberg Broke Down in Tears Seeing Paul Dano and Michelle Williams as His Parents in 'The Fabelmans', Is Brendan Frasers The Whale Based on a True Story? The colorful anecdote involved Thomas giving a ride to a costumed Clayton Moore, star of TVs The Lone Ranger, and getting involved in a minor car crash that escalated into more. quotes, 17 Things 'Cheers' Fans Never Knew. Jay Thomas, a comic and character actor whose credits include roles on Cheers and Murphy Brown, has died after a battle with cancer, according to his publicist Tom Estey. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. He said something to the effect of Its brutal. Jay runs afoul of Rhea Perlman! She said, "I want him off the show.". A notable exception was Cheers. Thomas chased the vehicle, then confronted the other driver who denied anything had happened and told him he was going to call the cops. The guy took one look at Thomas and his producer and said, Oh really, who do you think they are going to believe, you two hippie freaks or me? At this point, Moore emerged from the backseat and said, Theyll believe me, citizen.. 3,913, This story has been shared 3,885 times. My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com. Jay Thomas was axed after he dissed Rhea Perlman publicly. It resulted in him getting his own show in Seattle years later. ', "Well," Levine wrote, "guess who happened to be listening. ", The Sirius radio host also had roles in films including "Mr. Holland's Opus," "The Santa Clause 2" and "The Santa Clause 3." 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. In addition, the actress denies the story, saying: That's not true. I knew they were deciding [about] whether to add me or Bebe to the cast full-time, and I thought he was calling with good news. When this actor insulted his co-star, he evidently couldn't foresee the consequences he would face. (@norm.of.cheers), Where everybody knows ur name (@welcome.to.cheers) . He was 69. Thomas played Eddie LeBec, a fictional goalie for the Boston Bruins, who began dating waitress Carla. Jay Thomas, an actor and radio personality whose work on the television series "Murphy Brown" won him two Emmy Awards in the early 1990s, died on Thursday at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif.. Thomas often played loud, sleazy types: He recurred on ShowtimesRay DonovanasMarty Grossman, the operator of a salacious TMZ-like website. In our world, you don't wind up sleeping with the fishes; you die a violent yet comedic death.". Thats exactly what it looked like was going to happen with Jay Thomas' character, Eddie LeBec, who joined the show in Season 5 as the boyfriend to Rhea Perlman's character, the perpetually pregnant waitress Carla. American Actor Jay Thomas was born Jon Thomas Terrell on 12th July, 1948 in Kermit, Texas and passed away on 24th Aug 2017 Santa Barbara, California aged 69. 4. on CBS' Murphy Brown from 1989-98 winning a pair of Emmys after his stint as Rhea Perlman's husband Eddie LeBec, a French-Canadian goalie with the .