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Jay Thomas
Thomas at the 1992 Emmy Awards
Born	Jon Thomas Terrell (1948-07-12)July 12, 1948 Kermit, Texas, U.S.
Died	August 24, 2017(2017-08-24) (aged 69) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor radio talk show host
Years active	1979–2017
Spouse	Sally Michelson ​(m. 1987)​
Children	3, including J. T. Harding

Jon "Jay" Thomas Terrell (July 12, 1948 – August 24, 2017) was an American actor, comedian, and radio personality. He was heard in New York from 1976–1979 on top-40 station 99X, and later on rhythmic CHR station 92KTU, and in Los Angeles beginning in 1986 on KPWR "Power 106", where he hosted the station's top-rated morning show until 1993. His notable television work included his co-starring role as Remo DaVinci on Mork & Mindy (1979–1981), the recurring role of Eddie LeBec, a Boston Bruins goalie on the downside of his career, on Cheers (1987–1989), the lead character of newspaper columnist Jack Stein on Love & War (1992–1995), and a repeat guest role as Jerry Gold, a talk-show host who becomes both an antagonist and love interest of the title character on Murphy Brown. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1990 and 1991 for portraying Gold.

In 1997, he starred in the television film Killing Mr. Griffin, based on the eponymous novel. In films, he co-starred in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) as a high-school coach with a flair for theatrics, and portrayed the Easter Bunny in The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006).

He was also an annual guest on the Late Show with David Letterman during the Christmas season, where he told a story about how he met Clayton Moore, who portrayed the title character on The Lone Ranger. Beginning in 2005, he hosted The Jay Thomas Show on SiriusXM Satellite Radio channel 94 comedy greats Monday through Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings on Howard 101.

Early life and education

Thomas was born in Kermit, Texas, to Katharine (née Guzzino) and Timothy Harry Terrell. He was raised in his Italian-American mother's Catholic religion; his father was Protestant. Thomas was raised in New Orleans, where he attended and graduated from Jesuit High School. He went on to attend and graduate from Jacksonville University. Thomas was the quarterback on his high-school football team and also quarterbacked in college, a skill he later used on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Letterman appearances

Thomas made annual Christmas appearances on David Letterman's CBS late night show, beginning in December 1998. Letterman and one of his other guests that evening, then-New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde, took turns throwing footballs trying to knock a large meatball off the top of a Christmas tree at the other end of the stage. As the two took turns futilely attempting to knock off the meatball, Thomas came back out to join in the festivities, and promptly knocked the meatball from the tree.

Beginning on a subsequent visit to Letterman's show, Thomas told a story about when he was a young disc jockey (around 1972) at WAYS 610 AM in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thomas had been making a promotional appearance at a local Dodge dealership, which had also booked a personal appearance by actor Clayton Moore, best known as the Lone Ranger on television and in films; Moore appeared at the event dressed in his Lone Ranger costume.

According to Thomas, he and his colleague Mike Martin, both clad in the hip fashion of the day (including tight jeans, tie-dyed shirts and their hair, which Martin wore long while Thomas himself sported what he called a "White Man's Afro"), had secretly gotten "herbed up" (smoked marijuana) several times throughout the day behind a dumpster. After the broadcast had ended and the crowd had left, while packing up their equipment, Thomas and Martin discovered that Moore was still there, as the car that was supposed to drive him back to his hotel, on Moorhead Boulevard, never arrived; Thomas then offered Moore a ride in his own car, an old, decrepit Volvo, which Moore accepted.

While stuck in traffic, with Moore sitting quietly in the back seat, an impatient, middle-aged man backed his full-sized Buick into the front end of Thomas's compact Volvo, broke a headlight, and then drove off. An angry Thomas chased the Buick down Independence Boulevard, weaving through heavy traffic and forgetting all about Moore still sitting quietly in his back seat. Thomas finally caught up to the man, blocked his Buick with the Volvo, and confronted him about the broken headlight. The indignant driver denied all; when Thomas threatened to call police, the man exclaimed, "Who do you think they'll believe? Me, or you two hippie freaks?" At that moment, Moore, still in costume as the Lone Ranger, stepped out of the Volvo, approached the man and said "They'll believe me, citizen!" The man, incredulous, exclaimed "I didn't know it was you!"

For every year thereafter except 2013, Thomas appeared to repeat the Lone Ranger story, which Letterman called, "The best talk show story, ever", and once again attempt what Letterman would refer to as the "Late Show Quarterback Challenge". For his final appearance in December 2014, Thomas was again successful in knocking the meatball off the top of the tree. Thomas missed the 2013 Late Show Christmas episode due to throat surgery; John McEnroe took his place and told the Lone Ranger story, then tried, unsuccessfully, to knock the meatball off the tree by hitting tennis balls at it.

Personal life

Thomas fathered J. T. Harding in an out-of-wedlock relationship, and the child was adopted by another family in Michigan. Thomas and his son spoke about their reunion on the Dr. Phil Show. Harding was the lead singer of the band JTX and is a country-music songwriter.

Thomas married Sally Michelson in 1987. They had two sons, Samuel and Jacob.

Death

Jay Thomas died of throat cancer on August 24, 2017, surrounded by his family in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 69.

Filmography

References

1. ^ Elber, Lynn (August 24, 2017). "Jay Thomas, 'Murphy Brown' and 'Cheers' actor, radio host, dies at 69". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
2. "It's Wouldn't Be the Holidays Without Jay Thomas' Lone Ranger Story". Animalnewyork.com. December 24, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
3. "Talk and Entertainment - Program Schedule". Sirius XM. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
4. "Jay Thomas profile". Filmreference.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
5. "Thomas hopes 'Love' will pave road". Tampa Bay Times. September 28, 1992. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
6. "Famous People from New Orleans". Experience New Orleans. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
7. Massa, Dominic (August 24, 2017). "Actor Jay Thomas, Jesuit High School graduate, dies at 69". The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
8. "Actor, DJ and Jacksonville University alumnus Jay Thomas dies at 69". The Florida Times-Union. Jacksonville. Associated Press. August 24, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
9. ^ "Jay Thomas takes one more shot at David Letterman's Christmas-tree meatball". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. December 18, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
10. Bodson, Laurent (December 31, 2009). "Jay Thomas on Letterman.2009.12.23 - The 'Lone Ranger' Story". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
11. Late Show (airdate December 19, 2014).
12. "Emmy Award-Winning Actor Discovers He Has a Son". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on August 15, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
13. Genzlinger, Neil (August 24, 2017). "Jay Thomas, Actor on 'Murphy Brown' and 'Cheers,' Is Dead at 69". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
14. Blistein, Jon (August 24, 2017). "'Cheers,' 'Murphy Brown' Character Actor Jay Thomas Dead at 69". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
15. Niemietz, Brian (August 24, 2017). "Comic actor Jay Thomas is dead at 69". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 20, 2023.

External links

• Jay Thomas at IMDb
• Official site at the Wayback Machine (archived September 30, 2019)
• TV.com entry Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
• Ten Questions with Jay Thomas

• 1948 births
• 2017 deaths
• American male television actors
• American male film actors
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• Male actors from New Orleans
• Male actors from Texas
• Jacksonville University alumni
• Jacksonville Dolphins football players
• American talk radio hosts
• Radio personalities from New York City
• Radio personalities from Los Angeles
• Radio personalities from New Orleans
• American people of Italian descent
• People from Kermit, Texas
• Deaths from throat cancer in California
• Catholics from Texas