Jay Thomas, actor and renowned LA radio host, dies at 69

Friday, August 25, 2017
LOS ANGELES -- Jay Thomas, a renowned Los Angeles radio host and Emmy Award-winning actor, has died. He was 69 years old.

Thomas' agent, Don Buchwald, confirmed the actor's death from cancer in a statement.

"Jay was one of a kind, never at a loss for words and filled with so much fun and wonderfully whacky thoughts and behavior," the statement read.

No other details of his death were released.

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A Texas native, Thomas broke into television playing Remo DaVinci on "Mork & Mindy." He later landed a recurring role as the hockey-playing husband of Rhea Perlman's character on "Cheers."

He won back-to-back Emmys in 1991-92 for the guest role on "Murphy Brown," playing outspoken talk-show host Jerry Gold.

Thomas had a recurring role on "Ray Donovan" and he made a 2015 guest appearance on "Bones." He appeared in a series of films over the years, including "Mr. Holland's Opus."

Thomas worked briefly at KISS in Boston before being hired by the new Rhythmic Top 40 KPWR/Los Angeles as their new morning host. He hosted the Power 106-FM "Morning Zoo" radio program for 10 years, according to a bio on Thomas' website.

While in Hollywood, Thomas' campaign "We apologize for Jay Thomas on Power 106-fm" was seen all around town.

Most recently, Thomas hosted a talk show on SiriusXM.

City News Service contributed to this report.
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