Brett Somers, ex-wife of Jack Klugman and perennial Match Game panelist, died Saturday at the grand age of 83.
A first-generation latch-key kid, I spent many an afternoon soaking in the vodka-drenched shenanigans of Somers as she fussed and bickered with Charles Nelson Reilly, her long-time comic foil.
It was my first exposure, I suppose, to a gay man bantering with his beloved fag hag. And I had no idea that's what I was taking in at the time. To paraphrase Elaine Stritch in her solo show, At Liberty, I just knew it was funny, and I dug it.
I also had no idea that for most of the years that I watched, she was soused. Not tipsy. Not drunk. But blotto. Blasted. Every sheet imaginable to the wind. I watch episodes today on the Game Show Network and marvel at how she can barely slur out most of her answers.
Was it because for my family attempting to have a conversation after consuming staggering amounts of alcohol was known as "dinner"? Or was my brain at that time content to just take in another bunch of people who worked overtime to say inappropriate things in an appropriate manner?
It matters not, I suppose. Brett Somers helped pass the time and made me feel happy when I already knew I felt different. She'll always have a blank spot in my heart.
God speed to you, Brett.
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4 comments:
Ronda and Kenneth growing up in a parallel universe. Impressionable young ladies with a whole TV family of role models.
Brent Summers was not funny
Maybe because she was drunk, and commanded so much attention for herself, having been raised a latchkey kid they said
I Loved Her as a Mother…One of the best…
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