Bill Saluga, whose trademark lines that began with “You can call me Ray” cracked up a generation of comedy fans, has died, according to his friend, Eric Brenner. He was 85.
Saluga’s March 28 death in Los Angeles was attributed to complications of heart failure and arthritis, according to his friend, Bill Minkin, who joined with him, Fred Willard, Patti Deutsch, Michael Mislove and George Memmoli in the improv troupe Ace Trucking Company.
Related: Fred Willard Dies: Actor On ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ And ‘Fernwood 2Night’ Was 86
“He was an icon,” said Minkin, who characterized his friend as quiet and polite when he wasn’t on stage, a stark contrast to the brash characters he portrayed.
Saluga was best known for his cigar-smoking, zoot suited character Raymond J. Johnson Jr.
A frequent talk-show guest, Saluga would be triggered by someone calling him “Mr. Johnson.” Feigning outrage, he then would launch into a soliloquy for his catchphrase,...
Saluga’s March 28 death in Los Angeles was attributed to complications of heart failure and arthritis, according to his friend, Bill Minkin, who joined with him, Fred Willard, Patti Deutsch, Michael Mislove and George Memmoli in the improv troupe Ace Trucking Company.
Related: Fred Willard Dies: Actor On ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ And ‘Fernwood 2Night’ Was 86
“He was an icon,” said Minkin, who characterized his friend as quiet and polite when he wasn’t on stage, a stark contrast to the brash characters he portrayed.
Saluga was best known for his cigar-smoking, zoot suited character Raymond J. Johnson Jr.
A frequent talk-show guest, Saluga would be triggered by someone calling him “Mr. Johnson.” Feigning outrage, he then would launch into a soliloquy for his catchphrase,...
- 5/7/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Leo J. Clarke, an Emmy nominated producer who worked on a host of comedy series including “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” and “The Steve Harvey Show,” has died. He was 60.
Clarke died Aug. 27 in San Francisco, where he also grew up and attended high school, eventually earning a BA in theater arts at Santa Clara University. He then went on to begin his career in television, starting as a production assistant on “The Redd Foxx Show” before joining “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show“ as a production manager.
From there, he became involved with more than 400 television sitcom episodes, the likes of which include “Cedric the Entertainer Presents,” “All of Us,” Louis C.K.’s show “Lucky Louie,” “Frank TV,” “Pair of Kings,” “I Didn’t Do It” and a 1995 remake of “Get Smart.”
Clarke found his greatest success at the Disney Channel where he worked on the hit show “Dog with a Blog.
Clarke died Aug. 27 in San Francisco, where he also grew up and attended high school, eventually earning a BA in theater arts at Santa Clara University. He then went on to begin his career in television, starting as a production assistant on “The Redd Foxx Show” before joining “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show“ as a production manager.
From there, he became involved with more than 400 television sitcom episodes, the likes of which include “Cedric the Entertainer Presents,” “All of Us,” Louis C.K.’s show “Lucky Louie,” “Frank TV,” “Pair of Kings,” “I Didn’t Do It” and a 1995 remake of “Get Smart.”
Clarke found his greatest success at the Disney Channel where he worked on the hit show “Dog with a Blog.
- 9/13/2018
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
"You want a glass of Burgundy?" Pamela Adlon asks, encouragingly, as she sits down in a ritzy Beverly Hills restaurant. The multi-hyphenate force behind FX's Better Things then gestures to her full face of makeup, which has been professionally applied for a photo shoot: "By the way, this is not me." She catches a glimpse of her smoky eyes in a nearby mirror, she yanks out a few fake lashes. When the beverages arrive in giant goblets that make the pours look a little stingy, she offers a polite thanks.
- 9/12/2017
- Rollingstone.com
I really like Better Things, FX's new comedy starring and produced by Pamela Adlon, who was Louis C.K.'s frequent on- and off-screen collaborator on Louie. (Here's my review from yesterday.) The show is deeply autobiographical, with Adlon playing a thinly-disguised version of herself: a single mom to three daughters, and a former child actress still plugging away in show business (finding more success in voiceover work than on camera) decades later. At press tour, I sat down with Adlon to talk about how (when she was still going by Pamela Segall) she got started in the business, her early '80s androgynous period — highlighted by Willy/Milly, where she played an adolescent girl who wished to be a boy, and woke up the next morning with a penis — the transition into voice work on shows like King of the Hill, the ways that her new art imitates her old...
- 9/8/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
When Pamela Adlon's oldest daughter was going into middle school, the actress suffered a mini-meltdown. Another mom had said that she allowed her children – a seventh grader and a nine-year-old – to watch Californication, the sexually explicit Showtime comedy series about debauched yet well-meaning novelist, Hank Moody (played by David Duchovny) and his equally depraved friends, one of whom is the professional pubic-hair waxer Marcy Runkle, played by Adlon. "I was thinking, 'How is she explaining "stunt cock" to her kid – or is she not?'" Adlon says in her...
- 6/17/2014
- Rollingstone.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.