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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Alan Sues R.I.P.

Comic actor Alan Sues, best known as part of the cast of Rowan & Martin's Laugh In, passed on 1 December 2011 at the age of 85.

Mr. Sues was born on 7 March 1926 in Ross, California. As a teenager he jumped a fence at Paramount Studios and watched a scene from Holiday Inn being shot. It made such an impression on him that he decided to go into acting. Alan Sues served in World War II in the United States Army. He studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Mr. Sues made his debut on Broadway in 1955 in Tea and Sympathy. He made his movie debut in The Helen Morgan Story in 1957. In the Sixties he appeared in such films as The Wheeler Dealers (1963), Move Over, Darling (1963), and The Americanisation of Emily (1964). On television he appeared on The Twilight Zone, The Wild Wild West, The Doris Day Show, and Love American Style. In 1968 he joined the cast of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In. His best known characters on the show were Uncle Al the Kiddie's Pal, a children's show hot with a constant hangover, and Big Al, an overly effeminate sportscaster. While on Laugh In he began appearing in commercials for Peter Pan Peanut Butter as a very flamboyant Peter Pan.

In the Seventies Alan Sues appeared on Broadway again in Sherlock Holmes, playing Professor Moriarty. He appeared in such shows as CHIPS. Time Express, and Fantasy Island, as well as the movie Oh Heavenly Dog.  In the Eighties he was the voice of The Dragon in The Reluctant Dragon (1981) and he appeared in the movie Snowballing (1984). He appeared on television in The Brady Brides and Punky Brewster. In the Nineties he guest starred on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and in the film Lord of the Road (1999). In 2009 he appeared in the film Artificially Speaking.

Alan Sues was one of the reasons that Rowan and Martin's Laugh In remains a classic. He was outrageously funny, with humour that just seemed to come non-stop. This suited him perfectly to the fast pace of Laugh In. Mr. Sues' flamboyant brand of humour was put to good use elsewhere as well, whether it was the commercial for Peter Pan or his bit as the Court Clerk in Move Over, Darling. He was a very funny man and he will be missed.

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