Tuesday Talking Points: Henry Gibson

A few weeks ago, on September 14th, one of the great comedy character actors of our time passed away of cancer at his home in Malibu. Henry Gibson was a regular and stand-out on the show Laugh-In, which I experienced in re-runs on Nick at Night growing up. His most famous role was as the leader of the Illinois Nazis in John Landis' 1980 film, The Blues Brothers.

Henry Gibson's real name was James Bateman. He chose the stage name Henry Gibson as a play on the name of the famed playwright Henrik Ibsen, of whom he was an admirer. Here are three examples of his poetry:

How I Saved A Baby Rhino from Slippin' In The Quicksand,
Whilst In Search Of My Fountain Pen,
Last Summer Along The Amazon River

With great difficulty.

Patacake

Patacake, patacake, baker's man
Bake me a friend.

Dogs Are Better Than Ants

Dogs are better than ants
Because you don't have to bend so far to pet them
In addition, they are sturdy old muzzlers
Who fetch us our slippers, papers, and twig chunks
Twig chunks
But most of all, they stay out of jelly jars and
Never go squish if you happen to step on them.

Here are some good YouTubes of Mr. Gibson:

Henry Gibson (the one in purple) on an insane episode of "Wonder Woman"

A clip from Blues Brothers

and some bits from Laugh-In.

Rest in peace sir.