RIP Bruce Kirby (1928 - 2021)

In January Bruce Kirby, character actor and father of actor Bruno Kirby died.

 

Kirby's career spanned five decades and included a recurring roles on Car 54, Where Are You? and Columbo.

He also made appearances on a variety of classic TV series including I Dream of Jeannie, Bonanza, Hogan's Heroes, The Patty Duke Show, The Rockford Files, Kojak, Barney Miller, M*A*S*H, Night Court, Murphy Brown, Matlock, The Golden Girls, L.A. Law, Punky Brewster, Murder She Wrote, The West Wing, The Sopranos, Chicago Hope, Scrubs, and many others.

His film credits include Catch-22, How to Frame a Figg, Throw Momma from the Train, Stand By Me, and best picture Oscar winner Crash.

However, Bruce Kirby is best probably known to Muppet fans as the World Wide Studios security guard the beginning of The Muppet Movie. This role made him the very first human to speak in a Muppet movie!

You can watch him tell Statler and Waldorf where they can heckle The Muppet Movie below:

Bruce Kirby was 95.