Bob Elliott (comedian)

Robert Brackett Elliott (March 26, 1923 – February 2, 2016) was an American comedian and actor, one-half of the comedy duo of Bob and Ray. He was the father of comedian/actor Chris Elliott and grandfather of actresses and comedians Abby Elliott and Bridey Elliott. He is most remembered for the character of radio reporter Wally Ballou.

Life and career

Elliott was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, the son of Gail Marguarite (née Brackett), a needleworker, and Fred Russell Elliott, who worked in insurance. Bob Elliott served in the U.S. Army in Northern Europe during World War II. 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 on the show ''Matinee with Bob and Ray''.

On television, Elliott and Goulding hosted ''Bob and Ray'' 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, Elliott 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''. Elliott also made television commercials, and co-wrote some humor articles with Ray Goulding for '' Mad Magazine'' in the 1950s.

In 1970, the duo debuted in ''The Two and Only'' on Broadway. Bob and Goulding worked together up until Goulding's death in 1990.

Solo works

In 1990, Elliott portrayed a bank guard in ''Quick Change''. In 1990, he portrayed "Fred Peterson" in the television series '' Get a Life'', which starred Chris as his son. Four years later, the elder Elliott appeared in the Tim Burton production ''Cabin Boy'', playing Chris's father again. In 2004, he appeared in a skit on the Air America radio program '' The O'Franken Factor''. Elliott appeared on radio with Garrison Keillor in '' The American Radio Company of the Air''.

Personal life

Elliott married Jane Underwood in 1943. They divorced in 1953, having no children. ''Bob and Ray'' writer Raymond Knight died in 1953. In 1954, Elliott married Knight's widow, Lee (née Peppers). They were married for 58 years until her death in 2012. They had two sons, Chris Elliott and Bob Elliott Jr., and one daughter, Amy Andersen. They adopted Lee and Ray Knight's two children, Colony Elliott Santangelo and Shannon Elliott. They had 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

In 1989, Elliott co-authored son Chris's mock autobiography, ''Daddy's Boy: A Son's Shocking Account of Life with a Famous Father''.

Death

Elliott died in Cundy's Harbor, Maine on February 2, 2016, from throat cancer at the age of 92.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
*
''Portland Monthly'': Elliott family life in Maine


* Bob and Ray shows at the Internet Archive collection "Bob and Ray for the Truly Desperate" https://archive.org/details/bobandraytoaster
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Bob
1923 births
2016 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
American comics writers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male radio actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American radio personalities
American satirists
Bob Elliott
Comedians from Massachusetts
Deaths from cancer in Maine
Deaths from throat cancer in the United States
Mad (magazine) people
Male actors from Boston
Military personnel from Massachusetts
United States Army personnel of World War II