Quite the bummer to hear about Harry passing and rather soon, he was only 65. His magic tricks on SNL helped us all get through some rather weak years for the show. I remember how he put a needle through his arm but I think the gimmick was he really hadn’t because I would’ve vomited. Harry’s brief appearances scamming Sam and the gang in Cheers led to the starring role most of us will always associate him with, Night Court.
After a good eight-year run, Harry was in the miniseries version of It and then some best forgotten Sitcom on CBS loosely based on columnist Dave Barry.
Seems he retired from TV, moved to New Orleans, ran an magic operation there until Hurricane Katrina probably wiped him out and finished out his days in Asheville, NC. Bummer, the only thing for that place is the Bob Moog Festival, otherwise it’s a boring place and good for being off the show business radar.
Sadly, the last thing he did was star in movie made by those poor, poor oppressed Christians who can’t handle Evolution and Science, let alone understand it. Harry plays the villain, a Biology professor claiming Evolution is the origin of life on Earth, causing the heroine to lose her religious faith. What crap. Harry’s character would be taken to task by other experts in Biology since Evolution explains the diversity of life we have and how we got the species we have now. It’s not involved with how life started. Well, either he cynically took the money or he got swayed into these people’s bullshit. One last element to my soap box. Someone can continue to be a spiritual person (KKKristian or other) and understand the gist of Evolution without it being a contradiction.
Either way, Harry, thank you for all your previous work. It was funny, clever and before Night Court, you were a snazzy dresser as Harry the Hat.