R.I.P. TOM POSTON, ONE WEIRD MOTHERFUCKER (1921-2007)

There are some actors for whom it is virtually impossible not to be funny as hell, and the transcendent Tom Poston was one of them. A familar face to the American TV generation, the guy's laid-back delivery made his absurd characterizations that much more hilarious, and whenever he showed up unexpectedly on some random show I would always yell, "Holy Fuck! It's Tom Poston!" and watch in loving awe as he rendered the efforts of the show's stars null and void. While not a comedian per se, Poston never failed to make me laugh my ass off and ranks among my all-time favorite comedic actors. In a world full of Chris Kattans and Adam Sandlers, Poston quietly stood tall as a Redwood amongst the weeds of what passes for comdey these days. So here's the obit, already:

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Tom Poston, the tall, pasty-faced comic who found fame and fortune playing a clueless everyman on such hit television shows as "Newhart" and "Mork and Mindy," has died. He was 85.

Poston, who was married to Suzanne Pleshette of "The Bob Newhart Show," died Monday night at home after a brief illness, a family representative, Tanner Gibson, said Tuesday. The nature of his illness was not disclosed.

Bob Newhart remembered Poston as a "versatile and veteran performer and a kind-hearted individual." "Tom was always the `go-to guy' on `Newhart' in addition to being a good and longtime friend," Newhart said in a statement released Tuesday.

Poston's run as a comic bumbler began in the mid-1950s with "The Steve Allen Show" after Allen plucked the character actor from the Broadway stage to join an ensemble of eccentrics he would conduct "man in the street" interviews with. Don Knotts was the shaky Mr. Morrison, Louis Nye was the suave, overconfident Gordon Hathaway and Poston's character was so unnerved by the television cameras that he couldn't remember who he was. He won an Emmy playing "The Man Who Can't Remember His Name." But when Allen moved the show from New York to Los Angeles in 1959, Poston stayed behind. "Hollywood's not for me right now; I'm a Broadway cat," he told a reporter at the time.

When he did finally move west, he quickly began appearing in variety shows, sitcoms and films. His movie credits included "Cold Turkey," "The Happy Hooker," "Rabbit Test" and, more recently, "Christmas With the Kranks," "Beethoven's 5th" and "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement."

Besides Pleshette, 70, Poston is survived by his children, Francesca Poston of Nashville, Tennessee, Jason Poston of Los Angeles and Hudson Poston of Portland, Oregon.