R.I.P. RUTH BUZZI

You made us chuckle from your fertile skits on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and it was through that surreal platform that you and your partner, Arte Johnson, ascended to comedy royalty as a couple of feisty, bench-warming elders, Gladys and Tyrone, who later inspired the animated series, The Nitwits, in which you and Arte loaned your vocals. 

To boot, your humorous appearances in other venues were most enjoyed and anticipated around that time. Gosh, I still remember how you used your purse to whack the heck out of Muhammad Ali on Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast.

You charmed, as well, with further amicable contention on Sid & Marty Kroff's The Lost Saucer, as the android Fi to Jim Nabors' Fum, creating a quarrelsome but lovable duo who do their darndest to return their young companions home.

You also kept us smiling with appearances on Tony Orlando and Dawn, Donny & Marie, The Flip Wilson Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Down to Earth, The Monkees, The Gong Show, Emergency!, Saved by the Bell, You Can't Do That on Television, Come on Over, The Muppet Show, Sesame Street (becoming a regular in 1993 as storekeeper Ruthie), and of course, further Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. 

Along with sharing your voice on Nitwits, you vocalized on The Berenstain Bears, Pound Puppies, The Smurfs, The Angry Beavers, Lucky Luke, I Go Pogo, It's Tough to Be a Bird, Sheep in the Big City and Disney's The Rescuers and The Aristocats.  

On the live-action, feature front, you livened things up even more in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Freaky Friday 1976, Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, The North Avenue Irregulars, Surf II, The Villain, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, Fallen Angels, Up Your Alley, Nothing But the Truth, Adventures in Homeschooling, Glenn's Gotta Go, Bad Guys, Dixie Lanes, One Month Out, Record City, Skatetown, U.S.A., plus the horror/sci-fi chiller, The Being, and the pleasing, lycanthrope spoof, My Mom's a Werewolf.  

Last but not least, your huge heart brightened many spirits through the Make a Wish Foundation, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Thalians, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and the Special Olympics.

You were a good person, Ms. Buzzi, one who could touch the soul, while tickling the funny bone. You were much like a friend and family member to so many of us, and perhaps for this reason above all, your passing holds such profound, sentimental resonance.