# Judy Tenuta has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [October 6, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857 "2022-10-06T23:24:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/21 "2022-10-07T03:27:37Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Did she ever tell jokes about her ex-husband Emo Phillips? If he’s even 1% as irritating in real life as he is on stage she could have done a complete mini series on it. My favorite Emo Phillips story is about when he was walking down the street, and there was a guy working on a roof, with a hammer. “And he called me a _paranoid little weirdo_… **in _Morse Code_** ”. RIP Miss Tenuta. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/22 "2022-10-07T04:57:39Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > She had some funny stuff; she came out of that late-80s craze for “character” comics, who had gimmicky voices and/or props and personas. Of them all, Gilbert Gottfried probably had the longest-term career success, and Andrew Dice Clay likely had the biggest short-term haul, what with his brief movie career. I saw this post and was going to say that Emo Phillips is still around. I saw him open for Weird Al just a few months ago. Had no idea he’d been married to Judy Tenuta. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/23 "2022-10-07T05:10:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Had no idea he’d been married to Judy Tenuta. I always thought she was part Japanese, but I guess Tenuta is an Italian name. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/24 "2022-10-07T05:41:59Z")
I saw Weird Al Yankovic, Tig Notaro, Seaton Smith, Dave Hill, and Emo Philips at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C. on October 30, 2016. It was strange. They sat on the stage talking as the movie _UHF_ played with the sound turned off on a screen behind them. Several times the sound for the movie was turned back on for a short period. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/25 "2022-10-07T07:40:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Don’t be ragging on Zeno Philips! I rediscovered him during lockdown and I didn’t realize how damned funny he was. Admittedly some of his stuff is quite funny. It’s he himself that is irritating. The “child stuck in an adults body and world” persona gets old fast. I can take about 10 minutes of it and I’m done. I thought her shtick was amusing. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/26 "2022-10-07T11:41:56Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Zeno Philips Darn autocorrect. “Emo,” of course! But, yeah, smaller doses is probably better with his schtick. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/27 "2022-10-07T11:56:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Darn autocorrect. “Emo,” of course! But, yeah, smaller doses is probably better with his schtick. Emo’s paradox. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/28 "2022-10-07T11:59:05Z")
Do you have a time frame for that? I ask because this is probably another example of what was acceptable humor in the past being judged by the standards of today. I’m not excusing or condoning it, but I’m not going to condemn her for it like many PC fanatics would or do these days. I certainly don’t think it’s any worse than making fun of a woman in front of all her peers whose health condition caused her to lose all her hair. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/29 "2022-10-07T12:10:12Z")
I don’t have a timeframe. My shikseh and I were watching Judy on YouTube and found that performance. ETA It hit close to home as my shikseh, while a Christian, is a first generation Indian American. She speaks Hindi, loves Bollywood films, and lived in India for over a decade. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/30 "2022-10-07T12:20:56Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > Did she ever tell jokes about her ex-husband Emo Phillips? If he’s even 1% as irritating in real life as he is on stage she could have done a complete mini series on it. > > My favorite Emo Phillips story is about when he was walking down the street, and there was a guy working on a roof, with a hammer. > > “And he called me a _paranoid little weirdo_… **in _Morse Code_** ”. > > RIP Miss Tenuta. I don’t want to derail the thread with Emo jokes, but one that always stuck with me was where he’s talking about having breakfast with the family “and my sister was sitting there with her breast out, feeding her baby… cereal .” I remember Judy Tenuta but damned if I can remember any of her jokes. The “Judy-ism” one vaguely rings a bell. RIP Judy. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/31 "2022-10-07T12:30:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Darn autocorrect. “Emo,” of course! But, yeah, smaller doses is probably better with his schtick. That’s what’s great about XM’s comedy stations, they (usually) only play clips that are few minutes long. So (at least back when I had XM), they could play some of his stand up, but it would just be a few jokes and then on to the next person. I remember Judy being huge in the 80’s, but I was born in 1980, so the memories aren’t the clear. Watching some of the linked videos, they all have a very familiar feel to them, so they’re probably the same ones I was watching back then. However, something I never noticed is how similar she seems to be to Roseanne (Barr). If you play some of those clips, but drop the accordion and the charisma, you (well, I) can absolutely hear Roseanne telling the same jokes, in the same voice with the same cadence. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/32 "2022-10-07T12:37:34Z")
Serious Question- Why do we get so serious when a comic dies? When Gilbert Gottfried died, his family put out a wondeful message asking to remember him by laughing at his jokes. When John Candy died, I kept expecting a memorial including a clip from Uncle Buck in which he says “I’m a big drooler.” When I learned that Judy had died, I was sad because the world had lost her and that I never got to tell her how much she made me laugh. Then, I went to another site and informed people that the Love Goddess had died by posting the following NSFW story of how I seduced her The following might be true- Hey! It could happen! I attended a show. I waited at the stage door for an autograph. I told her I was a Jew For Judy-ism. That made her laugh. I said her accordion was very nice. But, would she like to see my love instrument? That REALLY made her laugh. After much discussion, she asked me the question every man wants to hear “If I give you a blowjob, do I have to spit out my gum?” Judy Tenuta had a sharp wit, gifted hands, and a hurricane tongue. She will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/33 "2022-10-07T12:47:18Z")
I saw her at Charlie Goodnights in Raleigh NC a couple of times. At one of the shows, there were a group of girls sitting in the front having a bachelorette party. Tenuta kept coming up with the vilest, most disgusting things to insult them with. At one point, she told them, “You know, if you girls sit there together long enough, your CYCLES WILL MATCH!” It was amazing. She came up with worse insults for women than any man could have thought up. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/34 "2022-10-07T13:11:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Dying in your 50’s > > She was 65 Apparently, she was actually 72, having previous given her birth date as November 7, 1965 (which would have made her 56). > **[Judy Tenuta, brash ‘Love Goddess’ comedian, dies at 72](https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/judy-tenuta-brash-goddess-of-love-comedian-dies-at-65/)** > > Judy Tenuta, a brash standup who cheekily styled herself as the “Love Goddess” and toured with George Carlin as she built her career in the 1980s golden age of comedy, has died. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/35 "2022-10-07T13:23:24Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > > [@Acsenray](#): > > > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > > > Dying in your 50’s > > > > She was 65 > > Apparently, she was actually 72, having previous given her birth date as November 7, 1965 (which would have made her 56). > > [https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/judy-tenuta-brash-goddess-of-love-comedian-dies-at-65/](https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/judy-tenuta-brash-goddess-of-love-comedian-dies-at-65/) Yes I mentioned that in the Death Pool thread. The article I read had the same quote from her publicist that your article does. She actively lied about her age for decades. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/36 "2022-10-07T13:51:34Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Emo’s paradox. I put on a hat just take it off for this. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/37 "2022-10-07T13:52:39Z")
Roseanne always stole the best jokes. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/38 "2022-10-07T13:59:50Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I remember Judy Tenuta but damned if I can remember any of her jokes. The “Judy-ism” one vaguely rings a bell. RIP Judy. When she was on Dr. Katz, she talked about her memories of not fitting in at Catholic school. An unfailing patient teacher counseled her, “Oh Judy, you don’t fool me. I have a little girl at home just like you”. Judy replied, “PUH-lease! My dad couldn’t have gotten THAT drunk!” ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/39 "2022-10-07T16:06:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > She actively lied about her age for decades. Yeah, that was weird when I read it. It seems even a lot of people that knew her didn’t know her real age. I can’t even remember the last time I heard her name mentioned, but as soon as I saw the story a whole flood of memories came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/40 "2022-10-07T16:40:52Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Yeah, that was weird when I read it. It seems even a lot of people that knew her didn’t know her real age. It’s common in show biz. Especially for women. I don’t think it’s done so much anymore but not unusual for her generation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857.md?page=3)