LOS ANGELES–Henry Gibson, the veteran comic character actor
best known for his role reciting offbeat poetry on "Rowan
& Martin's Laugh-In," has died. He was 73.
Gibson's son, James, said Gibson died Monday at his home in
Malibu after a brief battle with cancer.
After serving in the Air Force and studying at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Arts, Gibson — born James Bateman in
Germantown, Pa., in 1935 — created his Henry Gibson comic
persona, a pun on playwright Henrik Ibsen's name,
while working as a theater actor in New York.
For three seasons on "Laugh-In," he delivered satirical
poems while gripping a giant flower.
After "Laugh-In," Gibson went on to appear in several films,
including "The Long Goodbye" and "Nashville,
" which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. His most memorable
roles included playing the menacing neighbor opposite Tom Hanks in
"The 'Burbs," the befuddled priest in "Wedding Crashers"
and voicing Wilbur the Pig in the animated
His recent work included playing cantankerous Judge
Clarence Brown on ABC's "Boston Legal" for five seasons and
providing the voice of sardonic, eye-patched reporter Bob Jenkins
on Fox's "King of the Hill." In 2001, Gibson returned to the stage
in New York in the Encores! New York City Center production of Rogers
and Hart's "A Connecticut Yankee."
