Jay Thomas

Jay Thomas
Thomas at the 1992 Emmy Awards
Born	Jon Thomas Terrell (1948-07-12)July 12, 1948 Kermit, Texas, United States
Died	August 24, 2017(2017-08-24) (aged 69) Santa Barbara, California, United States
Cause of death	Throat cancer
Occupation	Actor, radio talk show host
Years active	1979–2017
Spouse(s)	Sally Michelson (m. 1987)
Children	3, including J. T. Harding

Jay Thomas (born Jon Thomas Terrell;^[1] July 12, 1948 – August 24, 2017) was an American actor, comedian, and radio personality. He was heard in New York from 1976-79 on Top 40 station 99X, and later on Rhythmic CHR station WKTU, 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 (1979–81), the recurring role of Eddie LeBec, a Boston Bruins goalie on the downside of his career, on Cheers (1987–89), the lead character of newspaper columnist Jack Stein on Love & War (1992–95), 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 film, he co-starred in Mr. Holland's Opus as a high school coach with a flair for theatricals, and portrayed the Easter Bunny in The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3. 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.^[2] Beginning in 2005, he hosted The Jay Thomas Show on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, which aired every Friday afternoon on Howard 101.^[3]

Early life and education

Thomas was born in Kermit, Texas, to Katharine (née Guzzino) and Timothy Harry Terrell.^[4] He was raised in his Italian American mother's Catholic religion; his father was Protestant.^[5] Thomas was raised in New Orleans,^[6] where he attended and graduated from Jesuit High School.^[7]

Letterman appearances

Thomas made his annual Christmastime appearance with David Letterman for the first time in December 1998. Letterman and one of his other guests that evening, then-New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde, took turns tossing footballs at the Christmas tree across the stage, atop which sat a large meatball. As the two tried to knock off the meatball and failed repeatedly, Thomas came back out to join in the festivities, and knocked the meatball off of the tree.^[8] (Thomas had played quarterback on his college football team.)

When Letterman talked with Thomas later in the show, Thomas told a story about when he was a young disc jockey at WAYS 610AM^[9] in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thomas had been making a promotional appearance at a local Dodge dealership which had also booked Clayton Moore to make an appearance, dressed in his Lone Ranger costume.^[8]

As the story goes, after the appearance Thomas, who at the time sported what he referred to as a "white man's Afro", and his friend, who was wearing platform shoes, tight pants, and a tie-dyed shirt, went off to get "herbed up" (smoke marijuana) behind a dumpster, after the broadcast ended. When they returned to pack up their equipment, they discovered that Moore was still there, as the car that was supposed to drive him to the Red Carpet Inn on Morehead Street (some years he would say the Red Roof Inn) never arrived. Thomas offered Moore a ride in his old Volvo, and Moore accepted. As they were sitting in traffic, with Moore sitting silently in the back seat, an impatient middle-aged man backed his Buick into the front end of Thomas' car, broke a headlight, and drove away.^[9]

Thomas gave chase to the Buick through heavy traffic, finally caught up to the man, and confronted him about the damage. The indignant driver denied breaking the headlight, and Thomas threatened to call the police. The man said nobody would believe their story because Thomas and his friend looked like "two hippie freaks". At that moment, Thomas said that Moore, who was still in costume as the Lone Ranger, got out of the car and said to the man, "They'll believe me, citizen!" The shocked perpetrator then began to cooperate.^[10]

For every year thereafter, with the exception of 2013, Thomas appeared to re-tell the Lone Ranger story and once again attempt what Letterman calls the "Late Show Quarterback Challenge". For the final appearance of the story in 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 surgery on his throat; 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.^[8]

Personal life and death

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.^[11] Thomas married Sally Michelson in 1987. They had two sons, Samuel and Jacob.^[12]

Jay Thomas died of throat cancer on August 24, 2017 in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 69.^[13]

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jay Thomas.

• Jay Thomas on IMDb
• "The Jay Thomas Show" website
• TV.com entry
• Ten Questions with Jay Thomas
• Haunting Jay Thomas