Bob Elliott (comedian)
| Bob Elliott | |
|---|---|
Elliott on Monitor in 1960.
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| Born |
Robert Brackett Elliott March 26, 1923 Winchester, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | February 2, 2016 (aged 92) Cundy Harbor, Maine, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Throat cancer |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian |
| Years active | 1951–2008 |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 5 |
Robert Brackett "Bob" Elliott (March 26, 1923 – February 2, 2016) was an American actor and comedian, one-half of the comedy duo of Bob and Ray. He was the father of comedian/actor Chris Elliott and grandfather of actress and comedian Abby Elliott. He is most remembered by the character of Wally Ballou, a mild-mannered, but indefatigable radio reporter.
Elliott was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, the son of Gail Marguarite (née Brackett), a needleworker, and Fred Russell Elliott, who worked in insurance. On radio, he appeared in programs with his long-time partner Ray Goulding. These were in different series and time slots over decades, beginning in the late 1940s at Boston's WHDH radio when the two were first paired for Matinee with Bob and Ray. The team’s ersatz advertisements included exhortations on behalf of the Monongahela Metal Foundry (“Steel ingots cast with the housewife in mind”), Einbinder Flypaper (“The flypaper you’ve gradually grown to trust over the course of three generations”) and Height Watchers International.
"The funniest people in this country, these guys are also two of the keenest observers of the American scene and the finest interviewers in the business."
Elliot appeared on radio with Garrison Keillor in The American Radio Company of the Air. On television, Elliott and Goulding hosted Bob and Ray show from 1951 to 1953. He appeared on a number of other television programs, including Happy Days; Newhart; and Bob & Ray, Jane, Laraine & Gilda in 1979 (with Goulding, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner); The David Steinberg Show; and Saturday Night Live. In 1982, Elliot was in Author! Author! as Patrick Dicker. He would star in made-for-TV-Movie's such as Between Time and Timbuktu and FDR: A One Man Show. Elliot made television commercials just as Goulding and Elliot had years earlier when they provided the voices for Bert and Harry Piel, the animated spokesmen for a New York brewing company.
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