RIP Wendie Jo Sperber

December 1, 2005 6:20 AM

RIP Wendie Jo Sperber: actress, mother, and breast cancer warrior.
posted by mr_crash_davis (27 comments total)

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posted by amro at 6:26 AM on December 1, 2005

Awww. Another fun character actor gone; and, like Pat Morita, another person I always recognized but never made an effort to find out anything about.
posted by Gator at 6:36 AM on December 1, 2005

Damn shame. I actually used to have a crush on her back in the Bosom Buddies days.
posted by jonmc at 6:42 AM on December 1, 2005

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posted by amberglow at 6:46 AM on December 1, 2005

I have an autographed photo of Wendie Jo Sperber. It is quite the conversation piece.
Very sad to hear of her death.
posted by Dr. Wu at 6:54 AM on December 1, 2005

Aww, damn.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:56 AM on December 1, 2005

Seconding Gator. The entertainment industries work because of a lot of folks like Wendie and Pat who will never be big stars, but will always hold up their end like the pros they are.

jonmc: I wouldn't say "crush", but I did find her disturbingly cute.

Pat Morita is dead? No shit. Mr. Miyagi was a pretty offensive character, but Morita did a good job with it nonetheless. And I never did warm up to "Al" as his replacement on Happy Days.
posted by lodurr at 6:58 AM on December 1, 2005

"Bosom Buddies" is one of the few 80s sitcoms that I will watch in reruns, partly because she was such a good ensemble player.

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posted by grabbingsand at 7:04 AM on December 1, 2005

(well, that and along with Bachelor Party it's the last time Tom Hanks was actually entertaining)
posted by jonmc at 7:05 AM on December 1, 2005

Pat Morita actually died just last week, lodurr.
posted by Gator at 7:07 AM on December 1, 2005

Damn. I've had a crush on her forever. Damn.
posted by tommasz at 7:25 AM on December 1, 2005

"You said no hookers, Stan! You said no hookers! No hookers, no hookers, no hookers!"
posted by solistrato at 7:50 AM on December 1, 2005

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posted by KerPow at 8:21 AM on December 1, 2005

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posted by fixedgear at 8:54 AM on December 1, 2005

I was just about to post that same quote Solistrato. I laugh just thinking about that scene. RIP.
posted by gfrobe at 8:54 AM on December 1, 2005

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posted by Item at 9:04 AM on December 1, 2005

She so funny, smart, & cute. My heart goes out to her family, she was so young & still had kids to raise.
posted by zarah at 9:31 AM on December 1, 2005

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posted by killy willy at 9:35 AM on December 1, 2005

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posted by apis mellifera at 10:01 AM on December 1, 2005

:(
posted by krix at 11:27 AM on December 1, 2005

Oh NO! I STILL remember her from Zemeckis' I Wanna Hold Your Hand, a comic gem that never got a good release. She was adorable & hilarious as a demented Beatles fan who at one point leaps out of a moving car in order to call a radio contest for Ed Sullivan tickets.
posted by beautifulatrocities at 11:54 AM on December 1, 2005

Does anyone but me remember the sitcom "Babes" that ran on Fox in the early 90s?

She also played Michael J. Fox's sister in Back to the Future.

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posted by Saucy Intruder at 12:59 PM on December 1, 2005

I do, Saucy Intruder. It's one reason I've had that crush.
posted by tommasz at 1:05 PM on December 1, 2005

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posted by cass at 1:38 PM on December 1, 2005

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posted by alteredcarbon at 4:12 PM on December 1, 2005

I always found her oddly attractive, too...shame to hear of her passing. Good to know that she "stood strong" in the face of her illness and turned it into a positive for other folks.

RIP.
posted by davidmsc at 5:06 AM on December 2, 2005

My Sperber crush was her character in 1941, a little plump but man could she swingdance. She was sassy and brassy and full of juice.

"C'mere Stretch!"

Damn shame. My thoughts go out to her family.
posted by davelog at 5:32 AM on December 2, 2005