Jay Thomas
Thomas at the 1992Emmy Awards
Born	Jon Thomas Terrell (1948-07-12)July 12, 1948 Kermit, Texas, U.S.
Died	August 24, 2017(2017-08-24) (aged 69) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor comedian radio talk show host
Years active	1972–2017
Spouse	Sally Michelson ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	3, includingJ. T. Harding

Jon "Jay"Thomas Terrell^[1] (July 12, 1948 – August 24, 2017) was an American actor, comedian, and radio personality. He was heard in New York from 1976–1979 ontop-40 station99X, and later onrhythmic CHR station92KTU, and in Los Angeles beginning in 1986 onKPWR "Power 106", where he hosted the station's top-rated morning show until 1993. His notable television work included his co-starring role as Remo DaVinci onMork & Mindy (1979–1981), the recurring role of Eddie LeBec, aBoston Bruinsgoalie on the downside of his career, onCheers (1987–1989), the lead character of newspaper columnist Jack Stein onLove & War (1992–1995), and a repeat guest role as Jerry Gold, a talk-show host who becomes both an antagonist and love interest of the title character onMurphy Brown. He won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1990 and 1991 for portraying Gold.

In 1997, he starred in the television filmKilling Mr. Griffin, based onthe eponymous novel. In films, he co-starred inMr. Holland's Opus (1995) as a high-school coach with a flair for theatrics, and portrayed theEaster Bunny inThe Santa Clause 2 (2002) andThe Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006).

He was also an annual guest on theLate Show with David Letterman during the Christmas season, where he told a story about how he metClayton Moore, who portrayed the title character onThe Lone Ranger.^[2] Beginning in 2005, he hostedThe Jay Thomas Show onSiriusXM Satellite Radio channel 94 comedy greats Monday through Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings on Howard 101.^[3]

Thomas was born inKermit, Texas, to Katharine (née Guzzino) and Timothy Harry Terrell.^[4] He was raised in hisItalian-American mother'sCatholic religion; his father wasProtestant.^[5] Thomas was raised inNew Orleans,^[6] where he attended and graduated fromJesuit High School.^[7] He went on to attend and graduate fromJacksonville University.^[8] Thomas was the quarterback on his high-school football team and also quarterbacked in college, a skill he later used onThe Late Show with David Letterman.

Thomas made annual Christmas appearances onDavid Letterman'sCBS late night show, beginning in December 1998. Letterman and one of his other guests that evening, then-New York Jets quarterbackVinny Testaverde, took turns throwing footballs trying to knock a largemeatball off the top of aChristmas tree at the other end of the stage. As the two took turns futilely attempting to knock off the meatball, Thomas came back out to join in the festivities, and promptly knocked the meatball from the tree.^[9]

On a later visit to the show, Thomas related a story from his early radio days. He was working atWAYS (AM), a Top 40 station inCharlotte, North Carolina in 1972 and did a significant amount of promotional work.^[10] Thomas was scheduled to make an appearance at a localDodge dealership alongside actorClayton Moore, who would be appearing in character asThe Lone Ranger as he would do regularly for Dodge's then-parent,Chrysler Corporation. Thomas and his colleague, Mike Martin, repeatedly stepped away from the festivities to smokemarijuana. After they had wrapped up their broadcast and appearances for the afternoon,both men noticed that Moore was still at the dealership with them as his ride back to his hotel never arrived.^[9]

According to Thomas, who described himself and Martin as being dressed like hippies with tie dyed shirts and long hair (Thomas claimed his was styled in a “white man's Afro”), the two offered Moore a ride back to the hotel in Thomas' dilapidated, early 1960s vintageVolvo, which Moore accepted. While stuck in traffic, with Moore sitting quietly in the back seat, an impatient, middle-aged man backed his full-sizedBuick into the front end of Thomas' Volvo, broke one of its headlights and switched lanes to exit the freeway.

Thomas and Martin then also exited the freeway and began chasing the driver of the Buick and eventually caught up to the man outside a restaurant, blocked his Buick with the Volvo, and confronted him about the broken headlight. The indignant driver denied all; when Thomas threatened to call police, the man exclaimed, "Who do you think they'll believe? Me, or you twohippie freaks?" Moore then emerged from the car in full Lone Ranger regalia and said, in character: "They'll believeme, citizen!" The stunned driver apologized and drove off.^[11]

For every year thereafter except 2013, Thomas appeared to repeat the Lone Ranger story, which Letterman called, "The best talk show story, ever", and once again attempt what Letterman would refer to as the "Late Show Quarterback Challenge". For his final appearance in December 2014, Thomas was again successful in knocking the meatball off the top of the tree. Thomas missed the 2013Late Show Christmas episode due to throat surgery;John McEnroe took his place and told the Lone Ranger story, then tried, unsuccessfully, to knock the meatball off the tree by hitting tennis balls at it.^[9]

Thomas fatheredJ. T. Harding in an out-of-wedlock relationship, and the child was adopted by another family in Michigan. Thomas and his son spoke about their reunion on theDr. Phil Show. Harding was the lead singer of the band JTX and is a country-music songwriter.^[12]

Thomas married Sally Michelson in 1987. They had two sons, Samuel and Jacob.^[13]

Jay Thomas died ofthroat cancer on August 24, 2017, surrounded by his family^[14] inSanta Barbara, California, at the age of 69.^[15]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJay Thomas.

• Jay Thomas atIMDb
• Official site at theWayback Machine (archived September 30, 2019)
• TV.com entryArchived June 29, 2011, at theWayback Machine
• Ten Questions with Jay Thomas

• 1948 births
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• American male television actors
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