Eventually, he found solace in voice work for many animated shows, the most popular of them being his long run on Inspector Gadget (1985-99). Nye's career cooled in the '70s, with an occasional television appearance (Laverne & Shirley, Fantasy Island) and mediocre flicks (Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), Harper Valley P.T.A. He is survived by his wife, Anita and a son, Peter. Nye his due, he left the stage near the top of his game. Still, just when you thought he was out of the limelight, he returned as a semi-regular in the critically acclaimed HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm where for two seasons (2000-2002), he was hilarious as comic Jeff Garlin's sardonic father. Nye's career cooled in the '70s, with an occasional television appearance ( Laverne & Shirley, Fantasy Island) and mediocre flicks ( Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), Harper Valley P.T.A. His stint on Steve Allen opened up the movie offers, the first of which, the garish Mamie Van Doren vehicle Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), was not exactly a highpoint in cinema comedy, but he soon settled into some good supporting parts in a slew ofįilms: The Facts of Life (1960), The Last Time I Saw Archie (his best film role, a terrrific comic foil for Robert Mitchum, 1961), The Wheeler Dealers, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (both 1963), Good Neighbor Sam (another great part as an inept detective, 1964), and A Guide for the Married Man (1967). If anything, Gordon Hathaway was endearing. Sure, his take on the country club elite was a touch prissy and effete, but Nye injected Gordon with a raffish charm and child-like sensibilty that never made the character offensive. It was justly celebrated for the wacky characterizations that the cast invented, and Nye's Gordon Hathaway was no exception. The program was one of the first sketch series to take off on television. ![]() ![]() His start was inauspicious, just a few appearances on the Cavalcade of Stars, but little did he realize that when he was picked up for The Steve Allen Show in 1956 that he, along with other talented comedians like Don Knotts, Tom Poston and Bill Dana, were courting stardom. After a stint in the Army during World War II, Nye returned to find a new medium dawning, television. He began his career in theater in his native Hartford before moving to New York City to break into radio. Nye was born on May 1, 1913, in Hartford, Connecticut to Russian immigrants. Sadly, Nye passed away on October 9 after a long battle with lung cancer at his Los Angeles home. The man behind it all was Louis Nye, a fine character comedian who for the past 50 years had been a unique, lively presence in film and television. "Hi-Ho, Steverino," was the catchphrase uttered by Gordon Hathaway, the fey, rich snob who greeted Steve Allen during the golden age of television.
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