Comedienne Ruth Buzzi, best known to much of the world, perhaps, for her years on the variety show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, passed away on May 1 from Alzheimer’s complications. She was 88.
While Buzzi was only one of three people to appear in every episode of Laugh-In (along with Rowan and Martin), longtime Days of Our Lives fans will always remember her for playing Letitia Bradford, quirky second-cousin to Marlena’s equally quirky patient, Eugene Bradford.
Granted, Eugene started out in 1982 more as Marlena’s unhinged patient, but by the time he left the show in 1989, he’d fallen in love with and married Calliope Jones, built a time machine, traveled to the future and returned to the present with an android version of Calliope.
Letitia popped up much earlier, in 1983, during the Salem Slasher storyline. (Which, longtime fans know, is different from the Salem Stalker.)
Eugene was accused of being the Slasher after his wife — and Marlena’s cousin — Trista was murdered. The animal-loving Letitia hid her second cousin in her house, only for her to end up dead with a knife in her back and a raven feather next to her.
The feather was a calling card for the Slasher — and also happened to be one of Letitia’s beloved animals!
Though Buzzi’s time on Days of Our Lives was short lived, it was utterly unforgettable.
She spent years doing voice work for a slew of cartoons and, 20 years after her Salem appearance, returned to daytime in 2003 to mix it up with witches and demons as Passions’ wacky Nurse Kravitz.
Our hearts go out to Buzzi’s longtime husband, Karl Perkins, their family and loved ones. We’re sure wherever the brilliant Buzzi he’s, still still making ’em laugh.
