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| Jay Thomas |
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 Jay Thomas was born in the dusty wildcat west Texas town of Kermit. (Like the frog?... Yes, like the frog.) After his dad, the Navy commander and WW II Navy Cross and Bronze star winner came home from the Pacific he wanted to get as far away from water as he could. And Kermit, Texas was it. His mom, the tap dancing champ of Patterson, Louisiana and Shirley Temple look-a-like contest winner, was carried kicking and screaming to this,"God forsaken place", along with Jay's older brother. Dark and lonely nights in the wind blown west led to the conception of a ten pound baby boy who it was said," was more mouth than anything else". While still in his mother's belly, she once battled a "leaping tarantula" with an ordinary house broom. This has given Jay an inordinate lack of fear of spiders, or any crawling creature for that matter. To this day he captures the errant insect, rather than squashing it, and will safely deposit it on the grounds of his adobe ranchette in the hills of central California. After drilling numerous dry holes for Texaco and failing at owning a concrete block factory, Jay's dad moved the family back to the beloved plantation home of his mother on the banks of the Atchafalaya river. Baby Jay grew to be a happy garrulous infant given to outbursts of hysterical laughter at the funny faces and silly whisperings of his animated mother. Early on he spoke and amazed his relatives as he mimicked anything he saw on television. His rambunctiousness was intensified by his large size for a baby. He would shake the bars of his crib loose like a TV wrestler and escape to where he could join in whatever conversation he heard going on in the rambling mansion. His father dubbed him, "Two Ton Tony", as he crawled along with his chubby arm and legs motoring to where the action was. All of this to the consternation of his five year older brother who was more interested in the quiet pursuit of fishing by the banks of the muddy river that bordered the back yard. His quiet demeanor may have hidden a sibling hatred for the precocious tyke who would grow up to be a " professional talker". Once while his mom and dad rested in each others arms on a picnic quilt, Jay rambled on all fours into the water next to where his big brother watched a cork bob. He struggled in the murky tributary, reaching for his placidly fishing brother only a few feet away who offered no aid. His yelps were heard in time for his father to rush into the shallows and rescue him. When questioned as to why he hadn't tried to help his drowning little brother, Jay's older sibling replied, " I couldn't. I had a bite." To this day Jay and his brother have a cautious relationship. Jay's need to be heard is evident by his over sized oral opening. As a child he could stretch it so that his entire fist would fit in while explaining, "Look, a knuckle sandwich". The Official Jay Thomas Biography Jay was born in Kermit, Texas, and raised in New Orleans where he attended Jesuit High School. Television Thomas is perhaps best known for his recurring roles. On the sitcom Mork and Mindy, he played Remo DaVinci, the Italian deli owner (1979 until 1981). Jay played the hockey player turned travelling ice show skater, Eddie LeBec, the second husband of Carla on Cheers (1987-1989). He also appeared on Murphy Brown as Jerry Gold, a tabloid talk show host who was also one of Murphy's love interests (1989-1998). Thomas starred in the short-lived 1990 show Married People. Thomas played Russell Myers, a writer who worked at home who was married to a high powered lawyer (played by Bess Armstrong). When his wife had a baby, Thomas' character became a househusband. He later starred in the 1992-1995 sitcom Love & War (with Susan Dey who was replaced by Annie Potts), and in the short-lived 1996 Ted Danson-Mary Steenburgen sitcom Ink. Thomas has also knocked the holiday meatball off the Christmas Tree on The Late Show with David Letterman every year since 1998. Film His many roles include playing the football coach, Bill Meister, the friend of the lead character (Richard Dreyfuss) in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Hal in the Kevin Costner film Dragonfly (2002) and the wise cracking Easter Bunny in The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and The Santa Clause 3 (2006). Radio Thomas has worked as a radio DJ in many markets including New York City and Los Angeles. Jay was probably best remembered for being the morning host on 92.3 WKTU where he was replaced by Howard Stern when WKTU switched to KROCK. He hosts The Jay Thomas Show on Stars Too Channel 108/XM 139 weekday afternoons 3 - 6 pm ET, the morning show on Howard 101 Friday mornings from 7 - 10 pm ET, and rocks your Saturday mornings on the the 70's On 7 from 8 am - noon ET on Sirius Satellite Radio. He resides in Los Angeles with his his wife, Sally and their 3 sons. |