Tom Poston, RIP...

May 2, 2007 8:24 AM

Tom Poston, RIP... Everybody give it up for one of America's finest comedic talents...
posted by lilboo (51 comments total)

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posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:30 AM on May 2, 2007

I fondly recall his man-in-the-street role on the old Steve Allen show . . . he would always seem so dazed and confused when even asked his name, hard to describe how funny that was . . . I think he served as a role model for my own dementia
posted by ahimsakid at 8:32 AM on May 2, 2007

"Hi, I'm George. This is Larry's brother Darryl, and this is Larry's other brother Darryl."
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:34 AM on May 2, 2007

Did you know he was married to Suzanne Pleshette? I was always jealous of him for that.

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posted by WolfDaddy at 8:34 AM on May 2, 2007

I had no idea he was married to Suzanne Pleshette.
posted by malaprohibita at 8:34 AM on May 2, 2007

He was 85? Time flies.
posted by amro at 8:37 AM on May 2, 2007

Funniest guest spot Tom Posten ever did was as kid show host Sidney 'Uncle Bouncy' Barish on "Dream On".

Martin gets a new video camera and inadvertently videotapes children's television celebrity Uncle Bouncy committing a sex act with a prostitute in a public alleyway. Martin opts to caution Bouncy himself about his behavior in person before turning the tape over to him. But, Bouncy's abusive and intransigent attitude convinces him to sell the offending footage to Eddie for broadcast on his show.

I'm still in shock recalling the eternally placid Posten as a roaring, arrogant, boorish and perverted sex fiend. Talk about playing against type.
posted by RavinDave at 8:38 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by Thorzdad at 8:38 AM on May 2, 2007

He got married to Suzanne Pleshette just about 6 years ago, I think. I read that she's been in poor health also, I wonder how she's doing?

And yet Sanjaya lives on...
posted by newfers at 8:38 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by briank at 8:45 AM on May 2, 2007

I believe that Bill Dana and Pat Harrington Jr. are the only members of Steve Allen's "Men On The Street" crew left.
posted by briank at 8:48 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by Smart Dalek at 8:49 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by hifiparasol at 8:54 AM on May 2, 2007

The man had a beautiful sense for deadpan timing. He'll be missed.
posted by EarBucket at 8:59 AM on May 2, 2007

Anybody got their hands on some good clips? I'd like to see this guy's humor, and I like the fact that he's from Columbus.
posted by phaedon at 9:03 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by UseyurBrain at 9:04 AM on May 2, 2007

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(he was great in everything)
posted by amberglow at 9:09 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by brandz at 9:10 AM on May 2, 2007

There goes another one. He was genius as The Peeper on the Bob Newhart Show.
posted by tkchrist at 9:14 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by ericb at 9:15 AM on May 2, 2007

they come in threes
posted by phaedon at 9:24 AM on May 2, 2007

RIP, Tom.

Not to rip too badly on the OP, but doesn't a guy like Tom Poston deserve better than a one-link obit post? I mean, seriously, there is a ton of shit on him out there.
posted by psmealey at 9:26 AM on May 2, 2007

aww, a gently funny character, loved him on To Tell the Truth, donkey's ages ago. Glad he had a long life. Tom Poston on GooTube; on IMDb.

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posted by nickyskye at 9:27 AM on May 2, 2007

Sample of Poston on Steve Allen
posted by DU at 9:31 AM on May 2, 2007

Tom Poston sucks at the Pyramid.
posted by phaedon at 9:32 AM on May 2, 2007

(he was great in everything)

Ditto, amberglow. Great comic actor.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:32 AM on May 2, 2007

OMG, I was just thinking about him yesterday, out of the blue. So random.
posted by mkultra at 9:41 AM on May 2, 2007

His last job, that I know of, was a dying clown living in a closet on the show Committed. Apparently, I was one of the few who loved that show, and Poston's little scenes in it.
posted by Danf at 9:41 AM on May 2, 2007

Here's a great clip from Newhart: George's Dream.
posted by emelenjr at 9:54 AM on May 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by Dizzy at 9:55 AM on May 2, 2007

The audition required aspirants to pull down their pants, as called for in the script. Most actors did so only in pantomime. Mr. Poston complied in full, with electrifying results.

Says everything about Poston and then some. Rest in peace.
posted by blucevalo at 10:01 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by Joey Michaels at 10:05 AM on May 2, 2007

Before she married Mr. Poston, Ms. Pleshette laid down one ironclad condition.

“I said to him, ‘Just because we were intimate before, doesn’t mean you’re getting in my pants again until I get a big rock,’ ” she said in a telephone interview yesterday.

So Mr. Poston gave her exactly that. A piece of unpolished granite the size of a large marble, it was culled from the gravel in his driveway. He had it put in a platinum setting.
posted by NationalKato at 10:07 AM on May 2, 2007 [4 favorites]

Since we're already talking about dead people named Tom: Tommy Newsom died a couple days before Mr. Poston.

I think my middle age started with the death of Katherine Hepburn, and that "middle age" means that the people that helped form your childhood memories start to die.
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:10 AM on May 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

I second that Danf. He added a little deadpan quirkiness that was needed.
posted by annaramma at 10:17 AM on May 2, 2007

Wow, George the Handyman and Doc Severinsen's second-in-command in Johnny Carson's Tonight Show band.

Dammit, I'm used to people dying being those I've never heard of before. This is getting a little too close for comfort.
posted by JHarris at 10:18 AM on May 2, 2007

I'll always remember him as Mr Bickley from Mork and Mindy.
posted by Dillenger69 at 10:19 AM on May 2, 2007

He stole every scene that he was in on the short-lived NBC show "Committed."

RIP, Tom.
posted by EastCoastBias at 10:23 AM on May 2, 2007

He stole every scene that he was in on the short-lived NBC show "Committed." on-screen.

Fixed.

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posted by phearlez at 10:40 AM on May 2, 2007

That "George's Dream" clip sums it up. Would that we all get to live our dream every day.
posted by evilcolonel at 10:48 AM on May 2, 2007

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posted by kimdog at 10:56 AM on May 2, 2007

People around me are now wondering why I was just laughing like an idiot.

I would say old comedians never die, but they do. Usually on stage. Or in Buddy Hackett's case, on Craig Kilborn's old show. The really good ones never die so long as we get their jokes.

Thanks for the many laughs over all the years, Tom. You won't be missed, but you will be remembered.

! < -- a stone with a banana precariously balanced top of it. /small>
posted by ZachsMind at 10:59 AM on May 2, 2007

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:-(
posted by fleetmouse at 11:07 AM on May 2, 2007

To me, he seemed like one of those people that have always been on television. Couldn't be a coincidence Tom Poston died on the same day as I got my first AARP membership request.
posted by tommasz at 11:37 AM on May 2, 2007

There are some comedians that are the only people who can do what they do. Fred Willard is the first person that always jumps to my mind, but Tom Poston was definitely another one. Very sad, but a great body of work.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:01 PM on May 2, 2007

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posted by driko at 12:07 PM on May 2, 2007

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Rest in peace, good ol' Tom. I watched Newhart fairly religiously as a lil' shaver in the 1980s and always appreciated what Tom added to the great ensemble.
posted by porn in the woods at 2:16 PM on May 2, 2007

Ditto amberglow. Didn't he do a lot of voice over work too?

And Suzanne Pleshette? sh-wing!
posted by vronsky at 4:27 PM on May 2, 2007

I'll always remember him best for Zotz!
posted by rmmcclay at 6:52 PM on May 2, 2007

I remember Zotz! as the first film which played games with the studio logo. (The Columbia woman wonders aloud, "Zotz? What's Zotz?" And Tom comes out to explain it to her.) A lot of films do this now (Spielberg made it popular with the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark), but Zotz! was there first.
posted by SPrintF at 8:10 PM on May 2, 2007

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Loved the guy's stuff. RIP.
posted by mwhybark at 10:24 PM on May 2, 2007