Bob Elliott
Bob Elliott was a comedian and performer best known for appearing as one half of the comedy duo Bob and Ray, with Ray Goulding. The two comics worked together in radio and television for more than 40 years.
In 1946, Elliott met Goulding at the Boston radio station WHDH, where Elliott was a DJ and Goulding was a newsman. The two hit it off, and ad-libbed jokes in between record changes, catching the attention of the station executives. They were given their own show, which led to them doing the morning show Breakfast With Bob and Ray, followed by a one-hour Saturday night show on NBC Radio in 1951.
That same year the two men got their own series, Bob and Ray, which ran until 1953. While Elliott was the more soft-spoken of the two, and Goulding the more boisterous, the comedians took turns playing the straight man. The sketch comedy series featured countless classic routines and characters, including Elliott’s sportscaster Biff Burns and reporter Wally Ballou.
Elliott and Goulding also recorded comedy albums together, and frequently appeared on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. They also starred together on Broadway in Bob and Ray: The Two and Only, a live staging of their comedy routines. And they appeared in Norman Lear’s film Cold Turkey and Arthur Hiller’s Author! Author!, starring Al Pacino. Elliott also appeared on The Dick Cavett Show, The David Frost Show, Late Night with David Letterman and Later with Bob Costas.
Bob Elliott was a comedian and performer best known for appearing as one half of the comedy duo Bob and Ray, with Ray Goulding. The two comics worked together in radio and television for more than 40 years.
In 1946, Elliott met Goulding at the Boston radio station WHDH, where Elliott was a DJ and Goulding was a newsman. The two hit it off, and ad-libbed jokes in between record changes, catching the attention of the station executives. They were given their own show, which led to them doing the morning show Breakfast With Bob and Ray, followed by a one-hour Saturday night show on NBC Radio in 1951.
That same year the two men got their own series, Bob and Ray, which ran until 1953. While Elliott was the more soft-spoken of the two, and Goulding the more boisterous, the comedians took turns playing the straight man. The sketch comedy series featured countless classic routines and characters, including Elliott’s sportscaster Biff Burns and reporter Wally Ballou.
Elliott and Goulding also recorded comedy albums together, and frequently appeared on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. They also starred together on Broadway in Bob and Ray: The Two and Only, a live staging of their comedy routines. And they appeared in Norman Lear’s film Cold Turkey and Arthur Hiller’s Author! Author!, starring Al Pacino. Elliott also appeared on The Dick Cavett Show, The David Frost Show, Late Night with David Letterman and Later with Bob Costas.
Additionally, Elliott had roles on The David Steinberg Show, Saturday Night Live, Happy Days, The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, Trapper John, M.D., Coming of Age, Newhart, LateLine and King of the Hill. On the 1990s series Get a Life, he played the father to his real life son, actor and comedian Chris Elliott.
The senior Elliott also had roles in the feature films Vengeance; The Gnome’s Great Adventure, with Christopher Plummer; Quick Change, with Bill Murray, Geena Davis and Randy Quaid; and Cabin Boy, starring his son, Chris Elliott.
His grandchildren include former Saturday Night Live cast member Abby Elliott and actress Bridey Elliott.
Bob Elliott died February 2, 2016, in Cundy's Harbor, Maine. He was 92.
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