Bladder cancer. Damn. He was one of my favorites.
Wow. I used to love his show when I was a kid.
Nelson Muntz will be so sad…
So will Ron Howard.
My high school senior class picked Moon River as its graduating song (as I’m sure many others did). The guy was smooth.
I watched his TV variety show every Saturday night, and this was one of my favorite moments:
I read it as John Williams had died.
Still, RIP.
Used to watch the show when I was a kid. I remember the comedy more than the music. And the bear.
My Mom was a big fan. I only sorta remember a Christmas special with him.
Aw, always liked him, even if he did have that thing with Claudine Longet.
I read his autobiography not long ago. He and his brothers got their start as a sort of boy band back in the 40’s. There was always a question of whether it was Andy Williams lip-syncing a song Lauren Bacall sang in a movie. Neither of them really knew whose voice was ultimately used!
RIP.
I was thinking Andy Griffith and thought “didn’t we just do this about a month ago?”
I was never a big fan but I think my folks had an album or two of his. Maybe a Christmas album? RIP Andy.
That was. . .amazing. Three super talents, none of whom is trying to steal the moment.
I recall that bear that used to chase him around and generally give him grief.
Which triggers another sad memory: the bear was played by the stuntman Janos Prohaska, who did gorillas, etc. While playing a caveman he was killed with the rest of the cast in a plane crash.
It was for a documentary “Up From the Apes,” which included a segment on the theory that our ancestors evolved from the rest of the apes because they hung out at the beach: our nostrils are horizontal to keep the water out, women have long hair for the kids to hang onto in the water, etc. I’m sure we had a thread on it once.
Beautiful. Perfect.
I was going to come into the thread and note that he dubbed Lauren Bacall’s singing in The Big Sleep, but before doing so I checked IMDB, which noted that it was so rumored, but was not in fact true.
He did a very nice version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic back during the Bicentennial. Low-key, but intense.
The bear used to come to Andy’s house every week, begging for cookies. The sketch always ended with Andy screaming at the top of his lungs, “NO COOKIES! NOT NOW! NOT EVER! NEVER!”
Incidentally, for those who didn’t click on my link, it’s Andy singing “Scarborough Fair” with his guests, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Years later, I remember hearing Andy say he used to sing that song with his brothers, so it was a treat to sing it with S & G. Andy was from a very different show biz tradition from Paul and Art, but they worked perfectly together on this occasion.
No, you can’t have a cookie! Not now! Not ever! NEVER!!!
I remember the bear. Janos Prohaska also played the Horta in the Star Trek episode “Devil In the Dark.”
Andy was an incredibly talented performer. Besides “Moon River,” he also has many other international hits such as “Where Do I Begin? (Theme From Love Story)” and “Speak Softly, Love (Love Theme from The Godfather).” I remember watching his show in the 60s and I’m not embarrassed at all to say I bought a ton of his albums. He released an album in 2007 and sounded like a much younger man. His voice was still smooth and easy and you could tell he enjoyed making the album. He was an awesomely talented, personable, and easy-going man and he will be missed. We will not see his likes again.