Richard Gautier ( Go-

tee A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club, or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby. Etymology The word tee is derived from t ...

- AY) (October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor. He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the Spy fiction, secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Bu ...

'', and

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

in the TV comedy series ''

When Things Were Rotten ''When Things Were Rotten'' is an American sitcom television series created in 1975 by Mel Brooks and set in 1197 as a parody of the Robin Hood legend. It aired for half a season on the ABC network. The series starred Dick Gautier as the handso ...

,'' as well as for originating the role of Conrad Birdie in the Broadway musical ''

Bye Bye Birdie ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The play's book was influenced by El ...

.''

Career

Gautier started his career as a singer and a nightclub comic at the hungry i in San Francisco. He joined

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

in 1959 after serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. In 1960, he portrayed fictional rock 'n roll star Conrad Birdie in the original Broadway theatre production of ''

'', receiving a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for his performance. He would later appear with two of his ''Birdie'' stars in two films: with

Kay Medford Margaret Kathleen Regan (September 14, 1919 – April 10, 1980), better known as Kay Medford, was an American actress. For her performance as Rose Brice in the musical ''Funny Girl (musical), Funny Girl'' and the Funny Girl (film), film adaptati ...

in ''

Ensign Pulver ''Ensign Pulver'' is a 1964 American Technicolor comedy drama film in Panavision and a sequel to the 1955 film '' Mister Roberts''. The film stars Robert Walker Jr., Burl Ives, Walter Matthau and Tommy Sands and features Millie Perkins, Larry H ...

'' in 1964, and with

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. Dick Van Dyke on screen and stage, His work spans screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Dick Van Dyke, his awards includ ...

in ''

Divorce American Style ''Divorce American Style'' is a 1967 American satirical comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin and starring Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, Jason Robards, Jean Simmons, and Van Johnson. Norman Lear produced the film and wrote the screenplay, based ...

'' in 1967.

Game show panelist

During the 1970s and 1980s, Gautier was a frequent game show panelist. He appeared on ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...

''; ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. Two families compete on each episode to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, the ...

''; ''

Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson, Goodson-Bill Todman, Todman Productions in association with Fremantle (company), Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June ...

''; ''

Showoffs ''Showoffs'' is an American television game show which ran on ABC from June 30 to December 26, 1975. Bobby Van was host, with Gene Wood as announcer. The Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production involved two teams competing in a game of charades. G ...

''; ''

You Don't Say! ''You Don't Say!'' is an American television game show that had three separate runs on television. The first version aired on NBC daytime from April 1, 1963, to September 26, 1969, with revivals on ABC in 1975 and in syndication from 1978 t ...

''; ''

Liar's Club ''Liar's Club'' is an American game show, originally produced by Ralph Andrews, featuring a panel of celebrity guests who offered explanations of obscure or unusual objects. Contestants attempted to determine which explanation was correct in or ...

''; ''

Password Plus ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''Password'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differen ...

''; ''

Body Language Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use o ...

''; ''

Super Password ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''Password'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differen ...

''; ''

Win, Lose or Draw ''Win, Lose or Draw'' is an American television game show that aired from 1987 to 1990 in syndication and on NBC. It was taped at CBS Television City (one of the few non- CBS game shows to tape there), often in Studios 31, 33, and 43 at vari ...

''; and the TV version of '' Can You Top This?''

Batman

In 1973, when

Burt Ward Burt Ward (born Bert John Gervis Jr. ; July 6, 1945) is an American actor, animal welfare activist and businessman. He played Dick Grayson's Robin, the sidekick of Batman (played by Adam West), in the television series ''Batman'' (1966–1968) ...

and

Yvonne Craig Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress who is best known for her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the 1960s television series ''Batman (TV series), Batman''. Other notable roles in her career include Dorot ...

reprised their Batman roles (as

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

and

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. The character Bette Kane, Betty Kane was introduced into publica ...

, respectively) for a TV public service announcement about equal pay for women,

Adam West William West Anderson (September 19, 1928 – June 9, 2017), known professionally as Adam West, was an American actor. He portrayed Batman in the 1960s ABC series of the same name and its 1966 theatrical feature film, reprising the role in ...

, who was trying to distance himself from the Batman role at the time, declined to participate. Gautier filled in for West as Batman on this occasion.

Voice-over roles

Gautier performed several

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

roles in

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

, including

Rodimus Prime ''The Transformers'' is an animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro and Takara's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transform ...

in the third season of ''

The Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' animated series from 1986 to 1987, as well as

Serpentor Serpentor is a fictional character and a recurring antagonist from the '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' toyline, comic books, and animated series. Introduced in 1986, the character rules as Emperor over Cobra where most versions are depicted ...

in the ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

'' series, Louis from the 1986 cartoon '' Foofur'', Spike the Dog in ''

Tom & Jerry Kids ''Tom & Jerry Kids'' (formerly known as ''Tom & Jerry Kids Show'' in the first season) is an American animated television series co-produced by H-B Production Co. and Turner Entertainment Co., and starring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry as ...

'', some additional voices in Hanna-Barbera's ''

The New Yogi Bear Show ''The New Yogi Bear Show'' (also known as ''Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear Show'') is an American animated sitcom, and the sixth incarnation of the '' Yogi Bear'' franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired in syndication from Septemb ...

'', Wooly Smurf in ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (; ) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was created and introduced as a series of comic characters by ...

'', and several voices for ''

Inhumanoids ''Inhumanoids'' is the title of an animated series and the name of a Hasbro toy property that were both released in 1986. In the tradition of other Hasbro properties such as ''Transformers (toy line), Transformers'', and ''G.I. Joe'', the show w ...

'', including Crygen and Pyre and their combined form, Magnakor.

Celebrity caricatures

Gautier was known for his

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

s of celebrities and wrote several instructional books on caricature, drawing, and

cartooning A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literar ...

Personal life

Richard Gilbert Gautier was born in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

, on October 30, 1931. His father was a grip and his mother was a costume seamstress. Gautier was first married to Beverly J. Gerber; the marriage ended in divorce after they had three children together. His second wife was actress

Barbara Stuart Barbara Stuart (born Barbara Ann McNeese; January 3, 1930 – May 15, 2011) was an American actress. She had a recurring role of Sgt. Carter's girlfriend Bunny on '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' Early years Born in Paris, Illinois, Stuart was ...

, and his final marriage was to Tess Hightower, a psychologist. His son Randy, nicknamed Rand, had both a brief stint in pornography under the name Austin Moore, and would in 1995 steal a videotape from the home of

Tommy Lee Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects. Early ...

and

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...

, containing footage they had filmed of themselves having sex while on vacation. Rand, along with a distributor, released it on the Internet, and it became one of the first widespread

celebrity sex tape A celebrity sex tape is typically an amateur pornographic video recording involving one or more famous people which has, intentionally or unintentionally, been made available publicly. Such videos have often been released without the consent o ...

s. Gautier died from pneumonia on January 13, 2017, at an assisted living facility in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...

, following a long illness.

Filmography

Bibliography

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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gautier, Dick 1931 births 2017 deaths American art writers American caricaturists American male comedians American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American male voice actors Comedians from Los Angeles Deaths from pneumonia in California Military personnel from California Entertainers from Culver City, California United States Navy sailors 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors