Jay Thomas played the role of Eddie LeBec, a Boston Bruins goalie, on the hit TV show “Cheers” from 1987 to 1989. He was killed off not too long after marrying one of the main characters in the show to Carla.
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The reason for his departure from the show is not entirely clear. According to a former writer on Cheers, Kevin Levine, Thomas made a comment during a radio spot where he said, “It’s brutal. I have to kiss Rhea Perlman”.
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This comment reportedly upset some important people, and the decision was made to write him out of the show. However, there are also reports that Thomas’s off-set behavior led to him getting kicked off the show. Regardless of the reason, Jay Thomas’s character Eddie LeBec was a fan favorite, and his departure from the show was a significant moment in the series.
Jay Thomas was an American actor, comedian, and radio personality in New York from 1976–1979 on top-40 station 99X, and later on rhythmic CHR station 92KTU.
In films, Jay Thomas co-starred in Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995), and portrayed the Easter Bunny in The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006).
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