Bob Elliott, half of the enduring television and radio comedy team Bob and Ray, has died, He was 92.
Elliott, father of actor-comedian Chris Elliott, died Tuesday at his home in Cundy's Harbor, Maine, part of the town of Harpswell, Rick Gagne, director of the Brackett Funeral Home, said Wednesday.
The cause of death wasn't made public.
For nearly 45 years, until the death of Elliott's comedy partner Ray Goulding, Bob and Ray entertained millions of radio listeners and television viewers.
No two people were ever funnier than Bob & Ray. Rather than mocking society and its foibles with satire, they gently poked fun with their special brand of absurdism. Johnny Carson and David Letterman were big fans, and they frequently had Bob & Ray as guests on their talk shows. I was first introduced to them as a kid when they appeared on the Tonight Show, and even at that young age I thought they were hilarious. Here are the two cracking up Johnny Carson:
Interestingly, Bob briefly mentions that his son was interested in going into show business - that would be his son Chris Elliott, who was on SNL for a while and was a supporting player in movies like Groundhog Day and There's Something About Mary.
The duo started out in radio, moved to television, dabbled in movies, and starred in a Broadway show called "Bob & Ray: The Two and Only," from which this classic bit was taken:
Edgar started thread 'other day. I like these bits, I fell asleep as a kid hearing Bob and Ray and Jean Shepard. They were on WOR in NY (back then(in the 60's), radios were analog and you could tune em to a rats hair .
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