Dick Shawn

 Dick Shawn (December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987)

He played a wide variety of supporting roles and was a prolific character actor. He was well known during the 1960s for small but iconic roles in madcap comedies, usually portraying caricatures of counter culture personalities, such as the deadbeat son in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and the hippie actor "L.S.D." in The Producers (1968). His many TV appearances included The Ed Sullivan Show, TV movies, sitcoms (including Three's Company on which he played John Ritter's father), dramas including St. Elsewhere and Magnum, P.I., and a music video for "Dance" by the hair metal band Ratt (1986). He also filled in for vacationing Johnny Carson as guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on January 1, 1971, which saw the last cigarette commercial on American television (for Virginia Slims) aired on TV, one minute before the cigarette ads were banned. On April 17, 1987, during a performance at University of California, San Diego's Mandeville Hall—including his portrayal of a politician reciting such campaign clichés as "If elected, I will not lay down on the job"—Shawn suffered a fatal heart attack and collapsed face-down on the stage. Dick Shawn was 63. He is interred at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.