Rocket portrayed recurring character Phil Lively, a game show host who took his larger-than-life persona home and treated life as if it were a game show. Rocket was tapped to anchor Weekend Update, and was featured in more sketches than any other male cast member that season with the exception of Joe Piscopo. Singled out by new executive producer Jean Doumanian, he was promoted as a cross between Bill Murray and Chevy Chase. Rocket was cast for the 1980–81 season of Saturday Night Live, which followed the departure of the remaining members of the show's original cast and executive producer Lorne Michaels. Later in his career, Rocket would lend his accordion talents to the David Byrne-produced B-52's album Mesopotamia. He made his network debut on Saturday Night Live in 1980, using the name Charles Rocket. He later anchored the local news at Channel 12 WPRI and at KOAA-TV in Pueblo, Colorado under his own name, and WTVF Nashville under the name Charles Kennedy. Rocket made several short films and fronted his band, the Fabulous Motels, on accordion (which he used in an SNL skit about a crazed criminal who uses an accordion to kill his dates and is killed himself by a bagpipe band). In a RISD yearbook, the dynamic duo appeared in a photo at the Rhode Island State House with then-Governor Frank Licht. Rocket appeared from time to time with his friend Dan Gosch as superheroes "Captain Packard" and his faithful sidekick "Lobo". He attended the Rhode Island School of Design in the late 1960s and was part of the Rhode Island underground culture scene in the 1970s that also included Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and film director Gus Van Sant. Rocket was born in Bangor, Maine, the son of Mary Aurelia (Fogler) and Sumner Abbott "Ham" Claverie. He was best known for his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, for his appearance as the villain Nicholas Andre in the film Dumb and Dumber, and for his appearance as Dave Dennison in Disney's Hocus Pocus. All of them died of accidental drug overdose.Charles Adams Claverie (Aug– October 7, 2005)-known by such stage names as Charlie Hamburger, Charlie Kennedy, and, most famously, Charles Rocket-was an American film and television actor. The likes of comic greats like John Belushi, Chris Farley, Richard Pryor - and more recently Greg Giraldo - led troubled lives battling substance abuse behind their jokes. Giraldo earned a law degree from Harvard before turning to comedy Two years later, he was found by his girlfriend - who ran to his room after hearing a gunshot - with a gun in his hand and a bullet in his head. Lowdown: In 2004, Jeni was ranked #57 on Comedy Central’s list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. In 2005, he was found dead in a field near his home with his throat slit wide open. Lowdown: Best known for his work on the comedy show Saturday Night Live, Rocket remained married to his college girlfriend until his death. In 1968, he was found dead in his Bellevue Hill flat with an empty vodka bottle, lots of amylo-barbitone tablets and a suicide note. Lowdown: After reaching his career high with the hit BBC series Hancock’s Half Hour, this British comedian faced numerous marital problems. In 2004, he died of a personally-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. However, with the eventual downfall in his career, things took a turn for the worse. Lowdown: This Emmy-nominated comedian-turned-actor wrote for Saturday Night Live during the 1994-1995 season. In 2005, he committed suicide by hanging himself in his room.ĭrake Sather's resting place in California Married with kids, he secretly suffered from depression. Lowdown: One of the Swedish pioneers in showbiz comedy, Dubois was quickly noticed for the series of television productions he appeared in. However, he left a suicide note ruling out any foul play on anyone else’s part. In 1977, when Prinze’s manager was visiting him, the former put a gun to his head and shot himself. Lowdown: Prinze suffered from depression, which escalated after he divorced his wife. Unable to overcome personal problems, Combs hanged himself in a psychiatric ward. In fact, he was quite popular as the host of two game shows - Family Feud and Family Challenge. Lowdown: Combs started out as a stand-up comedian before moving to the small screen. hitlist looks at similar life-stories, where unfortunately, personal problems became too hard to handle, leading to suicide. Sad as it is, he’s not the first comic to have made humour a way of living before succumbing to his personal battles. On Tuesday, it emerged that Williams hanged himself with a belt, and the cause of death based on autopsy results was “asphyxia”.
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