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.<ref name="newyorktimes"/>

Life and career

Elliott was born in Winchester, Massachusetts,<ref name="Birth">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the son of Gail Marguarite (née Brackett), a needleworker, and Fred Russell Elliott, who worked in insurance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Washington Post">Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Bob and Ray Tedi Thurman Monitor.gif

Bob and Ray in a publicity photo with Tedi Thurman for Monitor, where all were program regulars

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.<ref name="Rolling Stone"/> In 1982, Elliott was in Author! Author! as Patrick Dicker.<ref name= "Bennetts">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= "Chase">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= "Scott">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= "Kroll">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= "Arnold">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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,<ref name="Washington Post"/> and co-wrote some humor articles with Ray Goulding for Mad Magazine in the 1950s.<ref>Mad Magazine Contributors – Bob Elliott Retrieved 31 May 2020.</ref>

In 1970, the duo debuted in The Two and Only on Broadway.<ref name="Broadway">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Bob and Goulding worked together up until Goulding's death in 1990.<ref name="Broadway"/>

Solo works

In 1990, Elliott portrayed a bank guard in Quick Change.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed Elliott appeared on radio with Garrison Keillor in The American Radio Company of the Air.<ref name="newyorktimes"/>

Personal life

Elliott married Jane Underwood in 1943. They divorced in 1953,<ref name="Washington Post"/> having no children. Bob and Ray writer Raymond Knight died in 1953.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1954, Elliott married Knight's widow, Lee (née Peppers). They were married for 58 years until her death in 2012.<ref name="Lee"/> They had two sons, Chris Elliott and Bob Elliott Jr., and one daughter, Amy Andersen.<ref name="Washington Post"/><ref name="Lee">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They adopted Lee and Ray Knight's two children, Colony Elliott Santangelo and Shannon Elliott.<ref name="Washington Post"/> They had 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.<ref name="Washington Post"/>

In 1989, Elliott co-authored son Chris's mock autobiography, Daddy's Boy: A Son's Shocking Account of Life with a Famous Father.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Death

Elliott died in Cundy's Harbor, Maine on February 2, 2016, from throat cancer at the age of 92.<ref name="newyorktimes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Test Dive Buddies	Bob	Short film directed by Ed Graham Jr.
1960	Kid Gloves	Bob	Short film directed by Ed Graham Jr.
1971	Cold Turkey	Hugh Upson/David Chetley/Sandy Van Andy	Satirical comedy film directed by Norman Lear.
1980	Vengeance	Luke	Directed and written by Bob Bliss.
1981	B.C.: A Special Christmas	Peter (voice)	American animated short film directed by Vlad Goetzelman.
1982	Author! Author!	Patrick Dicker	American comedy drama film directed by Arthur Hiller and written by Israel Horovitz.
1984	Kidco	Policeman #2	Comedy film directed by Ronald F. Maxwell.
1987	The Gnomes' Great Adventure	Fred	Template:Plain list
1990	Quick Change	Bank Guard	Template:Plain list
1994	Cabin Boy	William Mayweather	Template:Plain list

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951–53	Bob and Ray	Co-Host	15-minute television series on NBC.
1972	Between Time and Timbuktu	Bud Williams, Jr.	Template:Plain list
1976	The David Steinberg Show	Template:CGuest	Episode: "Episode #1.1 (Pilot)"
1978	Saturday Night Live	Interviewer	Episode: "Elliott Gould/Peter Tosh"
1979	Happy Days	Gil Crawford	Episode: "Here Comes the Bride, Again"
1981	The Steve Allen Comedy Hour	Template:CGuest	Episode: "Episode #1.22"
1985	Trapper John, M.D.	Zeke Rainey	Episode: "A False Start"
1986	Action Family	The Vendor	Template:Plain list
1987	FDR: A One Man Show	Make-Up Man	Template:Plain list
1988	Coming of Age	Template:CGuest	Episode: "Hale to the Chief"
	Newhart	Bill Loudon	Episode: "I Came, I Saw, I Sat"
1990–92	Get a Life	Fred Peterson	Contract role
1999	LateLine	Wally Van Horn	Episode: "The Minister of Television"
2008	King of the Hill	Edgar Hornsby (voice)	Episode: "Square-Footed Monster"

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 254387

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• Template:Usurped
• Portland Monthly: Elliott family life in Maine Template:Webarchive
• New York Times article about the Elliot family
• 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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