on facebook.
Mitzi McCall, the ever-vibrant diminutive comedian who, along with her husband and partner Charlie Brill, became a fixture on game shows and talk shows – and appeared on one of television’s most iconic nights – has died.
A close family friend announced on Facebook that McCall died on Thursday at the age of 91. A cause of death was not given.
McCall and Brill had the ultimate good news and bad news gig when they watched the Beatles’ U.S. television debut on the February 9, 1964 episode of “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Although it became a night that changed music and television, McCall & Brill said, “It went badly! It was terrible,” McCall told CBS with a laugh in 2014. The pair performed between performances by the Fab Four, which meant they both had to follow them And Within a few hectic minutes the door opened for her.
“Mr. Sullivan,” McCall told the outlet, “changed our act when we got to New York. When he saw what we did in dress rehearsal, he was kind enough to warn us that his audience would be made up of 14-year-old kids and that they probably wouldn’t understand what we were trying to do.”
Brill noticed that Sullivan’s changes to their performance weren’t helping, and both recalled not being able to hear each other over the crowd’s cries for more Beatles. McCall improvised: “I was just backstage and I stepped on a Beatle!”
As nerve-wracking as it was, McCall described the post-Beatles bombing experience as “an honor. We were there when the world changed.”
McCall, born on September 9, 1932 in Pittsburgh, spent her life in show business. She was already on stage in 1948 and shortly thereafter, at the beginning of the medium, she had her own local television show, “Kiddie Castle.”
After moving to Hollywood, she made her national television debut as a voice actress—a career she would pursue later in life—in an episode of “The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse” in 1955. That same year, she co-starred with comedian Jerry Lewis in the feature film “You’re Never Too Young.”
Her other early film work included “Machine-Gun Kelly” (1958) and “The Cry Baby Killer” (1958). She made guest appearances on television in various series, from “The Twilight Zone” (1960) to “Maude” (1974), perhaps most famously in episodes of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” (1968-1969).
McCall was married and divorced early. She met Brill in 1959, married him in 1960 and remained together until her death. In this way they became one of the most successful married couples in Hollywood. They worked a lot on tour and became famous as reliable, witty talk show guests.
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The duo was a huge success on game shows in the 1970s, particularly on Match Game and Tattletales, which allowed the pair to dominate with their husband-and-wife stories and innuendo at a time when television was slowly becoming more conservative.
In a typical episode of “Tattletales,” McCall was asked how quickly she would spend the money if she unexpectedly received $10,000. “I want to run amok at Saks and Gucci,” she exclaimed. “Someday. Someday… Who knows if you’ll still be here tomorrow? Spend it!”
Later in her career, McCall worked extensively as a voice artist on animated series such as “The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show” (1971–1972), “The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang” (1980–1981), “Snorks” (1984–1985), “Paw Paws” (1985–1986), and even “American Dad!” (2008).
Generation Z would have seen her as a guest in “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” (2007) and “Hannah Montana” (2007).
