I've been fortunate to know a lot of folks who were both wonderful people and wonderfully talented. One of them was the actor-director Howard Morris.
Howie was born September 4, 1919. You can look at today's date and do the math on that one. Howie left us on May 21, 2005. Not a day goes by since then when I don't miss the guy.
I'm not sure I can explain what was so special about him. He was even funnier in real life than he was on the screen and you probably know how funny he was on the screen. He had a fierce temper at times and usually, I don't think being a nice, friendly person 95% of the time excuses the angry 5%. In fact, I can't think of a single person I've ever met where I could excuse the 5%. Except Howie.
You may know him from many, many corners of show business. He was a player on Sid Caesar's TV programs, arguably the best "sketch" show ever done on television. He was Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show, arguably the most beloved situation comedy ever. He was one of the best voice actors to ever work in animation and he directed sitcoms and movies and commercials and…
…and he was just Howie. I wish I could show you how charming he was as himself but there's really not a good example of that on YouTube. You'll have to settle for Howie in front of the camera or a microphone. Like, this is him voicing one of the most memorable series of commercials ever…
And here he is voicing Teen Heart Throb Jet Screamer in the original run of The Jetsons…
And here he is with Sid Caesar in one of the best sketches they did on that arguably-best "sketch" show…
I could post many others. (If you've never seen Caesar and his cast parody the This Is Your Life TV show, I posted it in this message and boy, are you in for a treat!) What I really wish, apart from having him back, is that I could show you how terrific he was when he was just being Howie. A fortunate man am I that I had him in my life for not-nearly-enough years.