lets all . Peter Boyle
December 13, 2006 10:53 AM   Subscribe

ahhh...puttin on the Ritz. this makes me sad.
posted by ShawnString (78 comments total)
 
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posted by ShawnString at 10:54 AM on December 13, 2006


nyaaarrrr.......
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posted by phaedon at 10:58 AM on December 13, 2006


Lol.

I thought it said "...putin on the ritz"

I was expeciting it to be a russian docu-omedy...
posted by subaruwrx at 10:59 AM on December 13, 2006


Wait, not "lol at his death", that is very said and we have lost another great american.

Lol at my misinterpretation...

Im so embarrassed.
posted by subaruwrx at 11:01 AM on December 13, 2006


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Should have won at least one Emmy for ELR.
posted by rocket88 at 11:01 AM on December 13, 2006


"Peter Boyle, the tall, prematurely bald actor"... WTF?
posted by smackfu at 11:03 AM on December 13, 2006


Somehow, I never made the connection that it was the same guy on "Raymond" that portrayed Frankenstein's (sorry, "FRAHN-ken-steen") monster. The obit blows me away. John Lennon was the best man at his wedding? What a life.

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posted by kyleg at 11:04 AM on December 13, 2006


"What in the holy name of crap are you talking about?"

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posted by Smart Dalek at 11:06 AM on December 13, 2006


Oh gosh, I thought he was the best.

Big .
posted by Dantien at 11:06 AM on December 13, 2006


"We are all naked in the eyes of the lord!"
posted by lovejones at 11:09 AM on December 13, 2006


I've been recycling his lines from Johnny Dangerously for like 20 years now. Damn.

(anybody catch him in Where the Buffalo Roam? Awful movie, but Boyle and Bill Murray are pretty awesome in it)
posted by COBRA! at 11:10 AM on December 13, 2006


I will always think of that X-Files guest role he did that won him an Emmy.
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posted by ninjew at 11:13 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by cookie-k at 11:13 AM on December 13, 2006


I hated ELR, but loved Peter Boyle. The obit shows how amazing seemingly ordinary people can be.

Hope he found enlightenment.
posted by figment of my conation at 11:14 AM on December 13, 2006


ninjew, that was the BEST X-files episode ever. Brilliant writing and Boyle's understated, emotionally ambiguous performance made it my favorite by far.

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posted by fleetmouse at 11:15 AM on December 13, 2006


RIP, Wizard.
posted by jonmc at 11:16 AM on December 13, 2006


For a second there, I thought Taco had died.
posted by Kwantsar at 11:17 AM on December 13, 2006


From one of my favorite scenes in Taxi Driver where Travis, in desperate need of some fatherly wisdom, confides in veteran cabbie "the Wizard":

Travis: Yeah, well. Naw, I don't know. I just wanna go out. I really, you know, I really wanna, I got some bad ideas in my head, I just...

Wizard: Look, look at it this way, you know uh, a man, a man takes a job, you know, and that job, I mean like that, and that it becomes what he is. You know like uh, you do a thing and that's what you are. Like I've been a, I've been a cabbie for seventeen years, ten years at night and I still don't own my own cab. You know why? 'Cause I don't want to. I must be what I, what I want. You know, to be on the night shift drivin' somebody else's cab. Understand? You, you, you become, you get a job, you you become the job. One guy lives in Brooklyn, one guy lives in Sutton Place, you get a lawyer, another guy's a doctor, another guy dies, another guy gets well, and you know, people are born. I envy you your youth. Go out and get laid. Get drunk, you know, do anything. 'Cause you got no choice anyway. I mean we're all fucked, more or less you know.

Travis: Yeah, I don't know. That's about the dumbest thing I ever heard.



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posted by Skygazer at 11:18 AM on December 13, 2006


Boyle's was about the best X files episode, I thought.
posted by jamjam at 11:20 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by Mister_A at 11:20 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by maryh at 11:23 AM on December 13, 2006


Requiescat in pace, Peter. You will be missed.
posted by elendil71 at 11:23 AM on December 13, 2006


If I remember my mel brooks, and i do, it was actually: "PUUUTTN OUUNN THAAA WRIIITTZZ!" The blind man shtick with gene hackman, as though the metaphor for man's indoctrination into civility, will always warm my laugh centers.
posted by sarcasman at 11:24 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by fungible at 11:26 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by SBMike at 11:26 AM on December 13, 2006


Maybe I'm slow, but I just realized a deficiency of metafilter. A really good tribute would have had a dozen links, and by the time it was assembled it would have been a double post.

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posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:27 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by grubi at 11:29 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by damnthesehumanhands at 11:35 AM on December 13, 2006


. for Peter.

:) for all my memories of his great roles.
posted by Mcable at 11:38 AM on December 13, 2006


that X-Files guest role

Please tell me it was natural causes and not autoerotic asphyxiation.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:42 AM on December 13, 2006 [1 favorite]


A really good tribute would have had a dozen links, and by the time it was assembled it would have been a double post.

Yah, if only there were some way to add more links to the initial post, perhaps some kind of page of comments? Duh.
posted by Lord Kinbote at 11:49 AM on December 13, 2006


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posted by katillathehun at 11:58 AM on December 13, 2006


The Puttin' on the Ritz scene is, as far as I'm concerned, the funniest thing ever put to film. Young Frankenstein being the funniest movie ever made.

RIP.
posted by hominid211 at 12:01 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by fixedgear at 12:03 PM on December 13, 2006


I was thinking of the X-Files role when I saw this too. He had a knack for bringing out the best in other actors, as well, and the interplay between his character and Mulder and Scully was priceless!

Adios, Peter.
posted by birdhaus at 12:10 PM on December 13, 2006


Fascinating that he and John Lennon were buds. Who would have thunk it?
posted by blucevalo at 12:14 PM on December 13, 2006


Excellent.

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posted by oddman at 12:14 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by Joey Michaels at 12:17 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by scarabic at 12:17 PM on December 13, 2006


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Where the Buffalo Roam... is a total classic
posted by matimer at 12:28 PM on December 13, 2006


Forget Putin on the Ritz.

..I'm standin' here... with my DORK in my hand!!!

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posted by cavalier at 12:32 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by brundlefly at 12:34 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by JeffK at 12:37 PM on December 13, 2006


[sniffing the twins' heads] I'm sucking in the youth!
RIP
posted by phaedon at 12:41 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by Holy foxy moxie batman! at 12:49 PM on December 13, 2006


The Puttin' On The Ritz scene is my favorite part of my favorite Mel Brooks movie. The episode he's in is one of my favorites from The X-Files' good years.

Sad.

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posted by sparkletone at 12:56 PM on December 13, 2006


No more nighttime serenades of "Sweet Mystery of Life" either...

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posted by Samizdata at 12:59 PM on December 13, 2006


I am reminded of his role as a mental patient who was both a nudist and clergyman in the tepid comedy "Dream Team". When his character is caught sitting naked in his room with a bottle of contraband wine he declares "This is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ...and a damn fine Beaujolais."

Holy Crap indeed.

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posted by Ber at 1:01 PM on December 13, 2006


Ah, the Christian Brothers' loss was our gain.

oddman, I can watch that scene a thousand times and still laugh.
posted by tommasz at 1:05 PM on December 13, 2006


RIP.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:37 PM on December 13, 2006


Key role in the funniest movie of the 70s. (Young Frankenstein)
Key role in the best drama of the 70s. (Taxi Driver)
Key role in the most popular sitcom of the turn of the century.
He did such a good job of playing a scary bigot in Monster's Ball people were afraid to vote him for an Oscar.
His only fault is he wasn't used enough.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:40 PM on December 13, 2006


Come back...


I was going to make us an espresso...
posted by hal9k at 1:45 PM on December 13, 2006


And don't forget Joe (1970), whose title character was the sensational start to Boyle's career.
posted by rob511 at 1:47 PM on December 13, 2006


an ex Christian Brother who asks his future wife out for the first time while wearing full Frankenstein costume and makeup, and at his wedding his best man is John Lennon? WTF?

my already massive admiration for the actor has now become a case of monster admiration for the man, too. when a man such as Boyle, a true maestro of film acting, dies, well, there should be a day of national mourning, and in a batter world the President himself should show the fuck up at his funeral, as a sign that America mourns the loss of a great son of hers.

I can watch that scene a thousand times and still laugh.

I often used to debate with my dad, Young Frankenstein or Hollywood Party, and we never could make up our minds, the two movies were just too funny to choose just one. and we'd end up watching one of them, or maybe both, as soon as we got together, fastforwarding to our favorite scenes (thank God for the DVD chapters that saved us a lot of VHS ffwd action these last few years).

And I just noticed that Boyle was just one year older than my dad. They died a few months apart.

well, anyway.

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posted by matteo at 1:49 PM on December 13, 2006


(Hollywood Party is the Italian title of Peter Seller's The Party, btw)
posted by matteo at 1:52 PM on December 13, 2006


Wait... SOMEONE DIED????
posted by found missing at 1:55 PM on December 13, 2006


dances_with_sneetches writes "A really good tribute would have had a dozen links, and by the time it was assembled it would have been a double post. "

Yep. If you care about this kind of thing you need to have your own dead pool going with pre-written obits for your pool. Just like the newspapers.
posted by Mitheral at 1:59 PM on December 13, 2006


Come back...


I was going to make us an espresso...



"Whoa. You must have been the tallest in your class."


-Or-

"... and throw the petal in the well. Blow a kiss and wave bye bye. Aw. That was the last one. What else we gonna throw down the well?"

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posted by tkchrist at 1:59 PM on December 13, 2006


While I'm sad to hear about Mr. Boyle's death, the oddest thing about this was reading my (former) name in the article - I had no idea I was his publicist!

Oh, and .
posted by jennaratrix at 2:02 PM on December 13, 2006


RIP, Mr. Boyle. He was an American institution. A one of a kind.

prematurely bald actor

I don't know about him, but I went bald maturely. What a handicap it must've been for him to undergo this process prematurely.
posted by psmealey at 2:10 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by joedan at 2:14 PM on December 13, 2006


Nthing his great performance in the X Files ep, one of my favorite.

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posted by Nathanial Hörnblowér at 2:31 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by snsranch at 2:32 PM on December 13, 2006


Never would I have guessed that the paths of Peter Boyle and John Lennon crossed. Obviously actors aren't the characters they play, but I would have placed those two people in entirely different generations and world views. To see that John Lennon was best man at Peter Boyle's wedding is almost as surprising as learning that Marlon Brando's longest and dearest friend in the world was Wally Cox.
posted by TimTypeZed at 2:46 PM on December 13, 2006


I think I already linked to the image of Brando blowing Wally's Cox.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:01 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by MythMaker at 3:35 PM on December 13, 2006


I loved him as Billy Bob Thornton's racist father in Monster's Ball. "You ain't no man till you split dark oak."
posted by shoesietart at 4:14 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by rougy at 8:25 PM on December 13, 2006


Not much to add except I really loved that guy and I thought he was an exceptional human being and actor.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:46 PM on December 13, 2006


wow, I tried posting a large plaintext "." before, but I totally broke the thread. Sorry about that, mefi.

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posted by tehloki at 9:31 PM on December 13, 2006


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posted by Iridic at 7:45 AM on December 14, 2006


IM IN UR BASE PUTTIN ON UR RITZ



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posted by JHarris at 11:09 AM on December 14, 2006


I got a little weepy when I heard the news. He provided so many hours of entertainment. Rest in peace, you giant lovable monster of a genius.
posted by dejah420 at 5:05 PM on December 14, 2006


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posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar at 7:38 AM on December 15, 2006


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posted by nonliteral at 8:57 AM on December 15, 2006


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posted by Busithoth at 2:17 PM on December 15, 2006


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posted by jne1813 at 10:01 AM on December 18, 2006


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posted by pilgrim at 3:03 PM on December 18, 2006


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