One of Hollywood’s most beloved comediennes gave fans a treat with a rare outing in Los Angeles just days before her 88th birthday on Saturday.
The hilarious actress first rose to fame as the brassy, loud-mouthed jokester on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.
Rocking a colorful print shirt and eclectic hat, she looked straight out of the variety show era, recalling the wild outfits she wore alongside a then-brand-new Goldie Hawn — and fellow cast member Ruth Buzzi, who passed away in July at 88.
The star looked spritely as she strolled the sidewalks, flashing her signature grin and radiating the same joy she brought to the character of Wardrobe in Disney’s 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast.
Long after becoming a regular on celebrity game shows like Super Password and Hollywood Squares, she also played Madame Morrible in the Los Angeles production of Wicked in 2008.
Can you guess this legendary laugh riot?
One of Hollywood’s most beloved comediennes gave fans a treat with a rare outing in Los Angeles just days before her 88th birthday on Saturday
The hilarious actress first rose to fame as the brassy, loud-mouthed jokester on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973
If you guessed Jo Anne Worley, you’re right!
The hilarious Indiana native had moved to New York after high school to chase her dream of acting.
‘I started out just singing in nightclubs because there weren’t any examples of lady comics,’ she told Parade in 2024.
‘I would just sing funny songs or do a twist on a song. Before I went to New York, I was also in a Jerry Lewis comedy workshop at Paramount Studios.’
She described her days on Laugh-In as ‘very busy.’
‘If we weren’t shooting, we were changing costumes, doing makeup and hair, or rehearsing. We actually did have to rehearse dance moves. We were busy bees. We would shoot into the night.’
Although the cast was full of newcomers alongside Worley, Hawn, and Buzzi, the environment was supportive.
‘We would help each other. We would be each other’s audience if we were not changing or getting made up or something. We’d encourage each other.
Rocking a colorful print shirt and eclectic hat, she looked straight out of the variety show era, recalling the wild outfits she wore alongside a then-brand-new Goldie Hawn — and fellow cast member Ruth Buzzi, who passed away in July at 88
The hilarious Indiana native had moved to New York after high school to chase her dream of acting
‘I started out just singing in nightclubs because there weren’t any examples of lady comics,’ she said in 2024
‘If there was something in the script I thought would be better for Ruth Buzzi, I would say, “I don’t know, I think Ruthie should do this.”
‘There were so many fun behind-the-scenes moments.’
Looking back on her decades-long career, Worley reflected on how the industry has changed for female comedians.
‘There’s much more freedom for women. The difference is, I think, because of cable television and people working and doing stand-up in clubs who are not beholden to regular television. They can do blue [raunchy] material. The industry has opened up for female entertainers.’
Asked which contemporary comedians make her laugh, she added, ‘I find that the rhythm is a little different nowadays. The jokes are something we would never dream of doing.
‘Comics coming up in the clubs would never do any blue material. You would only be doing material that you could eventually do on television, which precludes a lot of what we see in the clubs today.
But, I love watching Saturday Night Live. By the way, did you know Lorne Michaels was a writer on Laugh-In?’
When asked what she’s proudest of in her career, Worley shared a deeply personal memory. ‘My brother was in the Navy, and at one point I was asked to sing with the United States Air Force Band at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., and my brother was there. That was kind of a special moment.
If you guessed Jo Anne Worley, you’re right!
‘If we weren’t shooting, we were changing costumes, doing makeup and hair, or rehearsing. We actually did have to rehearse dance moves. We were busy bees. We would shoot into the night,’ Worley said of Laugh-In
Although the Laugh-In cast was full of newcomers alongside Worley, Hawn (L), and Buzzi (R), the environment was supportive: ‘We would help each other. We would be each other’s audience if we were not changing or getting made up or something. We’d encourage each other,’ said Worley
The star brought Disney’s Wardrobe to life in the 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast
Lily Tomlin, Worley and Hawn attend The National Comedy Center honoring George Schlatter at The Comedy Store on October 23, 2022
‘We visited the Vietnam war memorial together, and that was special because he knew a lot of the names on the wall.’
In 1970, Worley left Laugh-In to pursue a variety of projects, guest-starring on TV favorites like Love, American Style, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Murder, She Wrote, The Middle, and game shows including Super Password, Hollywood Squares, and Pyramid.
Over the years, she continued working in film, television, and theater, both in original productions and revivals.
Worley also became a sought-after voice actress, lending her talents to Nutcracker Fantasy (1979), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991) and A Goofy Movie (1995), as well as Beauty and the Beast: Belle’s Magical World (1998) and the video game Kingdom Hearts II (2005).
She remained connected to Disney, making cameos in shows like Kim Possible, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Jessie.
Worley’s stage career includes regional theater appearances in Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, Hello Dolly!, Anything Goes, and Once Upon a Mattress, as well as performances at the Welk Dinner Theater, California Music Theatre, and La Mirada Theatre.
She returned to Broadway in Prince of Central Park in 1989, though the show closed after four performances, and later played the Wicked Witch of the West in a 1999 musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.
In 2007, she starred as Mrs. Tottendale in The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway and reprised the role in 2015 at The Cape Playhouse.
