Ruth Buzzi, known for her appearance in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, which aired from 1968-1973, has died at the age of 88. Buzzi reportedly passed away peacefully in her Texas home from Alzheimers yesterday, May 1 after dedicating decades of fun loving comedy sketches, and as Gladys Ormphby from the Laugh-In. Reported by the Associated Press and CNN, Buzzi had starred in over 200 television appearances in her 45 year career.

Buzzi’s agent Mike Eisenstadt shared the news with CNN, stating that Buzzi had been on hospice care before her passing. Her husband, Kent Perkins, posted a statement on his wife’s Facebook page shortly before her death thanking her fans for the years of dedication and love their support brought to Ruth.

“She wants you to know that she probably had more fun doing these shows than you had watching them.” He said via Facebook.

As a golden globe and two time emmy award winner on Laugh In, Buzzi was the only regular to reappear in all six seasons of the show, including the pilot. First spotted by Laugh In creator and producer of the show George Schlatter (Turn-On, Norman…Is That You?), Buzzi was starring as various characters on The Steve Allen Comedy Hour at the time.

“I think I hired her because of my passion for Gladys Ormphby,” he wrote in a 2023 memoir, Still Laughing A Life in Comedy. “I must admit that the hairnet and the rolled-down stockings did light my fire. My favorite Gladys line was when she announced that the day of the office Christmas party, they sent her home early.”

In 2018, Buzzi spoke on her character Gladys, as her character was known for striking anyone who bothered her over their head with her purse. Typically, on Laugh In, her usual target was Tyrone F. Horneigh who played a dirty old man.

“Gladys embodies the overlooked, the downtrodden, the taken for granted, the struggler,” she told The Connecticut Post. “So when she fights back, she speaks for everyone who’s been marginalized, reduced to a sex object or otherwise abused. And that’s almost everyone at some time or other.”

Along with her work on Laugh In, Buzzi’s career extends from The Gary Moore Show to the likes of broadway productions such as Sweet Charity alongside Gwen Verdon, appearances alongside Lucille Ball, music videos of Weird-Al Yankovic and the B-52s, and even voice acting in popular cartoons such as The Smurfs and Angry Beavers. Buzzi was also nominated for an emmy for her role as shopkeeper Ruthie on Sesame Street.

When she retired from acting in 2021, she remained active on social media, garnering thousands of followers with her quirky idioms, still providing her fans with the comedy she loved to produce.