Buddy Hackett, who delighted nightclub, radio, film and television audiences with his slapstick humor, died Monday at his home in Malibu, where he’d lived for more than 40 years. He was 78.
The cause of death wasn’t known at press time. A family spokesperson said Hackett had been suffering from a chest cold though he’d been in good health until a few days ago.
As recent as May 27, Hackett, who was an animal activist, testified before the Malibu City Council on the inhumane practice of cat declawing, urging those present to draft an ordinance that would outlaw the procedure.
Born Aug. 31, 1924 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Hackett began his comedic career as a young waiter/performer in the Catskill Mountains. In the 1940s and ’50s he expanded his stand-up shows to cabarets and clubs in New York. It was at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills, where he was performing in 1952, that he met his future wife, Sherry Dubois.
He eventually performed on Broadway in the 1954 musical “Lunatics and Lovers,” entertained Las Vegas and Atlantic City audiences with his bawdy, manic routines, and had his own television sitcom called “Stanley,” where he played a newsstand owner in an upscale New York hotel. The show co-starred Carol Burnett as his girlfriend. He was also a regular on the “Jackie Gleason Show” and on Jack Paar’s “Tonight Show.”
In the ’60s, he co-starred in the films “The Music Man,” “The Love Bug” and the madcap caper “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” with Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar and Spencer Tracy. More recently, he was the voice of Scuttle in Disney’s animated hit, “The Little Mermaid.”
Hackett semiretired in 1996 after experiencing shortness of breath and dizziness while onstage. Afterward, he performed during fundraisers for Singita Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill, cage-free shelter that he and his wife created in Sylmar (www.singita.org). Another benefit for the sanctuary was being planned for October.
Hackett is survived by his wife, Sherry; his son, Sandy; his daughters, Lisa and Ivy; and two grandchildren. Memorial services are pending. Hackett’s family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Singita Animal Sanctuary, Po Box 921779, Sylmar, CA 91392-1779.