Sunday, January 15, 2017

Dick Gautier

I read, a little while ago, that the actor Dick Gautier died on Friday, at age 85.

He was so darn funny on Get Smart, as Hymie the Robot. 

Here's a story about his death, and life, from the Daily News in New York. The story includes a brief, and very funny, excerpt from a Get Smart episode.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/dick-gautier-hymie-robot-smart-dead-85-article-1.2946482

In 1960, on Broadway, Mr. Gautier originated the role of Conrad Birdie, in Bye Bye Birdie, for which he received a Tony nomination.

He made a great many television appearances during his career, which included lending his voice to a number of animated programs; he was also seen, periodically, in films.  I was surprised to learn, however, from looking at his IMDB page, after reading about his death (this is also mentioned in the Daily News story, above), that he made only six appearances on Get Smart, the show with which he is certainly most associated.  Yet his appearances on the program were so memorable, and so entertaining--I can still laugh, decades later, just thinking about his affectless/deadpan portrayal of Hymie--that (for me, at least) it feels as if he had been on the program a lot more.

Here is the IMDB page about Mr. Gautier's television and film career:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0310370/