RIP Marcia Strassman

[mpcincal]

https://tv.yahoo.com/news/marcia-strassman-dead-starred-welcome-220306315.html

Actress best known as Gabe Kotter's wife in "Welcome Back, Kotter," and was also in the early seasons of "M*A*S*H," and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" and its sequel.

 

[Songbird]

She was a cutie.

Pound for pound it might be the best theme song.

Welcome Back Kotter Theme Song HQ (Opening): http://youtu.be/5VlGyMG0ksg

 

[sportsnut2002]

She was also in the pilot of the CBS sitcom "E/R" that featured Elliott Gould and, part way through, a young George Clooney.

RIP

 

[mpcincal]

That's right, sportsnut, I forgot she was on that show.

When Robert Hegyes (Epstein) died, I remember we were commenting on how gracefully Strassman had aged. I didn't know she had been battling breast cancer all this time.

In addition to Strassman and Hegyes, Ron Pallilo (Horshack) also left us recently, I believe.

 

[BTExpress]

Oooh, I know this one. Getting a little closer to the Mendoza line on SportsJournalists.com RIPs.

 

[Joe Williams]

Very appealing as a rock journalist in a two-parter of The Rockford Files deep into that series' run. RIP.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

I seem to remember reading that she Kaplan didn't get along, which made those "Did I tell you about my Uncle Lou..." scenes even more interesting.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I seem to remember reading that she Kaplan didn't get along, which made those "Did I tell you about my Uncle Lou..." scenes even more interesting.

Yup. This is some good stuff: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19780829&id=ethSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9n8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6983,7508092

One tidbit from that cracked me up is that she said that Farah Fawcett tested for the part of Mrs. Kotter!

 

[old_tony]

Wow, she really didn't hold back on Kaplan.

It's entirely possible he was quite a degenerate considering his only two real jobs in life were comedy and poker.

 

[poindexter]

Wow, she really didn't hold back on Kaplan.

It's entirely possible he was quite a degenerate considering his only two real jobs in life were comedy and poker.

Dont forget track and field.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Wow, she really didn't hold back on Kaplan.

It's entirely possible he was quite a degenerate considering his only two real jobs in life were comedy and poker.

Dont forget track and field.

Since you went there:

Maybe the greatest moment in TV history. It's worth watching the whole thing, but if you don't have patience. ... I guess skip ahead to 7:55.

 

[mpcincal]

I seem to remember reading that she Kaplan didn't get along, which made those "Did I tell you about my Uncle Lou..." scenes even more interesting.

Yup. This is some good stuff: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19780829&id=ethSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9n8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6983,7508092

One tidbit from that cracked me up is that she said that Farah Fawcett tested for the part of Mrs. Kotter!

Years ago, E! ran a True Hollywood Story doc on "Welcome Back, Kotter." In it, Kaplan blamed the animosity between him and Strassman on the series creator, James Komack, who Kaplan said seemed to like the pit the two against each other. Strassman's comments in that story linked above would refute that, because it seems like she didn't like him from the very start.

One of the Strassman obits I read yesterday said her and Kaplan had actually mended fences in recent years.

 

[old_tony]

Wow, she really didn't hold back on Kaplan.

It's entirely possible he was quite a degenerate considering his only two real jobs in life were comedy and poker.

Dont forget track and field.

Since you went there:

Maybe the greatest moment in TV history. It's worth watching the whole thing, but if you don't have patience. ... I guess skip ahead to 7:55.

Speaking of "you went there ..."

Ha. I forgot how many of those cheesy shows had us glued to the TV set in the 1970s.

Seriously, I remember my friends and I all following The Superstars competitions as though they were the Super Bowl.

And then The Superstars spawned The Superteams.

They used to run some of those on ESPN Classic.