Posted on 09/17/2007 5:08:05 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
`Match Game' panelist Brett Somers dies
Mon Sep 17, 2:49 PM ET
WESTPORT, Conn. - Actress and comedian Brett Somers, who amused game show fans with her quips on the "Match Game" in the 1970s, has died, her son said. She was 83.
Somers died Saturday at her home in Westport of stomach and colon cancer, Adam Klugman said Monday.
Hosted by Gene Rayburn, "Match Game" was the top game show during much of the 1970s. Contestants would try to match answers to nonsense questions with a panel of celebrities; much of the humor came from the racy quips and putdowns.
Shows from the 1973-79 run, featuring regulars like Somers, Richard Dawson and Charles Nelson Reilly, are still seen on cable TV's GSN (formerly Game Show Network.)
Somers married actor Jack Klugman, the future star of the television shows "Quincy" and "The Odd Couple," in 1953. The two separated in 1974, but never divorced.
They made many television appearances as a couple. Somers appeared on several episodes of "The Odd Couple," playing the ex-wife of Klugman's character.
In the summer of 2003, she appeared in a one-woman cabaret show, "An Evening with Brett Somers," which she wrote and co-produced. She continued to perform after being diagnosed with cancer.
She was born Audrey Johnston in New Brunswick, Canada, and grew up in Portland, Maine. She ran away from home at age 17 and headed for New York City, where she settled in Greenwich Village. She changed her first name to Brett after the lead female character in the Ernest Hemingway novel "The Sun Also Rises." Somers was her mother's maiden name.
Her son said she was caustic, irreverent and a self-declared bohemian.
"She maintained her independence till the end, and her irreverence," Adam Klugman said. "She died very much at peace."
In addition to Adam Klugman, Somers is survived by another son, David, and a daughter, Leslie.
FILE** Actressess Brett Somers,left, and Lee Meriwether,right, support each other on roller skates as they attend a diso party in Los Angeles in the Aug. 9, 1979 file photo.Somers, who amused game show fans with her quips on the 'Match Game' in the 1970s, has died, her son said Monday Sept. 17, 2007. She was 83. (AP Photo/File)
Funny people.
Rest in _____________.
This image may be more familiar.
This image of Brett always reminded me of the Teresa Hines Kerry picture on FR 
Wow, now 3 out of 4 in that photo are dead. The game was funny, especially the interactions between the stars.
In 2006, Brett Somers told the Game Show Network (GSN) that many of the Match Game personnel were “relieved” when Dawson quit the show in 1978. Dawson was annoyed that a “star” wheel was added to select celebrities, as most contestants would choose him 3 to 1 over the other five panelists prior to the wheel’s addition (in fact, he himself admitted that he took the addition of the wheel as, as he put it, “a direct slight”). Richard had already been starring as host of Family Feud on ABC prior to leaving MG and had been trying to quit MG in order to focus on his “Feud” duties. Producers initially didn’t want to release him from his contract. Because of this, in later years of MG, Dawson could be seen as looking like he was sulking and didn’t want to participate. Dawson left the show in 1978.
I seem to remember that Brett liked to see what Charles often wrote as his answer.
RIP. Very funny show.
interesting:
She was born Audrey Johnston in New Brunswick, Canada, and grew up in Portland, Maine. She ran away from home at age 17 and headed for New York City, where she settled in Greenwich Village. She changed her first name to Brett after the lead female character in the Ernest Hemingway novel “The Sun Also Rises.” Somers was her mother’s maiden name.
She was so dumb, she sent her cultured pearls to SCHOOL!
Indeed, and quite a card.
Sometimes you can give someone credit for talent even though they don't conform to our lifestyle.
A very sharp person.
Oddly enough (or maybe not), that was my first thought also.
I learned a lot of double-entendres watching that show -- except that I didn't know that they were double-entendres until sometime later . . .
What’s funny is to watch the reruns and see the guys who were oldtimers back in the 70s and some of the flash-in-the-pans that make you say, “Who??”
bump
I heard GSN is going to do a marathon of Match Game in honor this weekend.
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