Jay Thomas Dies from Cancer

TV actor and radio star Jay Thomas has succumbed to cancer at the age of 69, the NY DAILY NEWS reports. Thomas’ wife Sally and sons Sam, Max and J.T. were by his side when he passed.

“Jay was one of a kind, never at a loss for words and filled with so much fun and wonderfully whacky thoughts and behavior,” wrote agent Don Buchwald, who represented Thomas for 35 years.

Thomas most recently appeared in the Showtime drama, “Ray Donovan,” but was probably best remembered for his role as hockey player Eddie Lebec, who was briefly married to Rhea Pearlman’s character on the TV sitcom, “Cheers.” from 1987-1989, before his character was run over by a zamboni. He also portrayed Jerry Gold on “Murphy Brown” from 1989-1998, which won him Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actor.

On the radio side, Thomas most recently hosted his own show on Sirius XM, at one time did mornings on KPWR-LA POWER 106 and WXRK-New York, as well as programmed other stations.