Ruth Buzzi

The Purse That Hit Men

Ruth Buzzi was born in 1936 in a small town in Rhode Island. She grew up far from the spotlight of Hollywood, but her training at the Pasadena Playhouse during the 1950s prepared her for the assault on television. At the school, she crossed paths with actors chasing drama, while she refined a comedic style built on facial distortion and precise timing.

In 1968 she joined the cast of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and her career changed completely. The show demanded frantic energy, which suited her ability to create eccentric characters in a matter of seconds. That is how Gladys Ormphby was born, a severe-looking woman with a hairnet who attacked men with her handbag.

And the gamble paid off.

That role earned her a Golden Globe in 1973 and made her one of NBC's most profitable stars. Viewers looked forward to her appearances every week, because Buzzi was never afraid of looking ridiculous or of physical, slapstick violence on screen. Behind the Gladys mask, though, was a performer who could sing and dance and had mastered the timing of classic vaudeville adapted for the small screen.

The audience never forgot that purse.

Between Puppets and Cartoons

After her run on sketch comedy shows ended, Ruth Buzzi decided to explore other commercial formats. In 1975 she starred in the science fiction series The Lost Saucer alongside Jim Nabors. These were low-budget productions with rudimentary special effects, but her work ethic set her apart amid the chaos of the cardboard-and-plaster sets.

In the 1990s, her career found a safe haven on Sesame Street. She played Ruthie, the owner of a curiosity shop, and for eight years she was the human face interacting with Jim Henson's puppets. During this period, her style softened to connect with a young audience, though she never lost the glint of madness in her eyes that had made her famous decades earlier.

Television was no longer her only goal.

Her voice became a valuable asset to the animation industry in Los Angeles. She took part in productions such as The Berenstain Bears and Pound Puppies, and worked steadily for studios like Hanna-Barbera. In these recording sessions, she could record up to five different voices in a single morning of technical work.

But the movies also called on her for supporting roles that needed the touch of eccentricity only she could bring. She worked on films such as Skatetown, U.S.A. and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. On these shoots she was often the actress who finished her scenes in the fewest takes, thanks to a photographic memory for dialogue.

A Quiet Retirement on the Ranch

In the late 1990s, Ruth Buzzi decided to step away from the pressures of the film industry. She moved with her husband Kent Perkins to a 240-hectare ranch in Stephenville, Texas. There she devoted herself to collecting classic cars and artworks, while turning down most of the scripts that arrived in the mail.

In 2002, she made one of her last notable appearances in the film Adventures in Homeschooling. From then on, her appearances were sporadic and almost always tied to tributes honoring her career in American comedy. She preferred the quiet of the countryside and managing her personal estate to returning to fourteen-hour shooting days.

In 2022, her husband announced that the actress was recovering from a stroke that had affected her mobility. Buzzi turned 87 in 2023 while living permanently at her property in Texas under constant medical care.