A genuinely funny lady died last night. She'd probably prefer I not mention her age but Mitzi McCall and her longtime husband/partner Charlie Brill had been entertaining audiences since…well, her first attention-getting job was in the 1955 Jerry Lewis movie, You're Never Too Young. Mr. Lewis was an important mentor in her career which included hundreds of appearances on stage and screen, in cartoons and Las Vegas, and an amazing number of game shows.
There was a game show called Tattletales that must be rerunning on some channel somewhere at the moment. It started in 1974 and each episode featured three celebrity couples being tested on what they knew about each other. Mitzi and Charlie were on a lot of them and until last night, we could say that they were just about the only couple from that series that was still together.
I was pleased to know and work with them and you never saw two people who more belonged together. Which is why our hearts go out today to Charlie, their family, their extended family (they took care of a lot of others) and anyone who ever laughed at that lovely woman.