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« on: August 30, 2017, 11:50:22 AM »
Since last posting here, several people connected to Hee Haw Theater have passed on. TV show cast members Jim and Jon Hager, Gordy Tapp, and sadly, the theater manager, Tom Lutz, who had a 15 year career in showbiz as an actor on Gunsmoke and Bonanza, a writer for comedy greats Jonathan Winters, Bob Hope, the Smothers Brothers, and a cue card guy and writer on Hee Haw, died. Tom was my boss at the theater for 3 years, and a great guy and an influence in my younger days.After the Hee Haw Theater went bust in October of 83, Tom left showbiz and partnered with some friends and had ownership in a BBQ joint in Fayetteville, AR, he later built or remodeled houses, and drilled oil wells in western Kansas. His marriage fell apart when the Branson theater failed, but he later remarried a nice gal who was at his side when he died at a hospice in Fayetteville early this spring.cannot say enough nice things about him. He started showbiz as a page at the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He always told great stories back then about his showbiz experiences, like writing with Jack Burns, a comedy legend, working on Bonanza as a supporting actor, and, funny behind the scenes stories about working on the Hee Haw set. Anyway, God rest his soul, condolences to his family and friends.
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