Brett Somers (born Audrey Dawn Johnston; July 11, 1924 – September 15, 2007) was a Canadian-American actress, singer, and game-show personality who was born in Canada and raised in Maine. Brett was best known as a panelist on the 1970s game show Match Game and for her recurring role as Blanche Madison opposite her real-life husband, actor Jack Klugman, on The Odd Couple.

I looked her up to see if Brett was her real name, and it wasn't. Her real name was Audrey Dawn Johnston. She doesn't seem like an Audrey. She had this strange marriage to Jack Klugman. You could tell she despised Richard Dawson.

Brett was everything. I nominate her for Datalounge Patron Saint

Sorry, OP. She has to be a “Datalounge Favorite” or a “Datalounge Icon” for 7 years before anyone can nominate her for “Datalounge Patron Saint.”

Maybe by that time OP will have learned to post without repeating himself.

Gene Rayburn and Richard Dawson both seemed like that had massive egos and were major assholes. I notice towards the end Richard didn't clap when Gene was introduced as "Star" of the show.

Her oldest daughter Leslie (from her first marriage) died in 2003 from cancer, four years before Brett died.

Brett and Jack Klugman remained friends even though they separated decades before her death. Never got divorced for some reason.

Thank you OP. I love Brett.

R4, the Klugman/Somers divorce is a strange tale. As you wrote, it was believed that they separated but never divorced. However, supposedly California records indicate they were divorced in 1977, about three years after they separated. Jack Klugman lived with his girlfriend Peggy Crosby for 20 years. He only married Peggy the year after Brett died. Brett said in interviews that they were not officially divorced. I often wonder if their lawyers finalized their divorce but somehow that never got back to Jack or Brett, although they'd have to have signed the papers.

That's interesting, I had no idea they actually had divorced. Maybe there was a paperwork snafu, but if so, why not just correct it?

Klugman got remarried in 2008 so they must have gotten divorced at some point.

Patron saint? Not on my watch!!

R9, Brett died in 2007, so Klugman could have remarried even if they were never divorced.

If you watch Match Game for any length of time you realize that she's a needy, unbalanced, mass of ego. Maybe it wasn't apparent in the days when the shows first appeared, but watching it now it's hard not to feel embarrassed for her. What a psychological mess she was. What we'd call now an attention whore.

Yet she was (reportedly) good friends with Marcia Wallace, Charles Nelson Reilly , and Fanny Flagg; all of whom seem stable in comparison.

I wonder if, by the end, they all hated each other. I hear they hated Dawson and Rayburn but that's just unattributed gossip, so who knows.

Anyone have better information?

We should do a thread solely on Match Game and all the many panelists.

Got it, R9 - I didn't realize she died so much earlier than him.

[quote]Sorry, OP. She has to be a “Datalounge Favorite” or a “Datalounge Icon” for 7 years before anyone can nominate her for “Datalounge Patron Saint.”

R1 must be new around here. Brett Somers has been a DL fave and icon for much longer than seven years. She's featured in her own threads as well as in the many sublime Match Game threads.

Why would Gene Rayburn have a massive ego? He was just a game show host.

That's a good question, R15. I have no idea how that could happen.

And legendary Broadway replacement, r15!

I loved how Brett always made "subtle fun" of the actresses who were in the "dummy seat". Apparently she couldn't stand Elaine Joyce and who could blame her.

At least Trebek is handsome.

So is she a DL icon or a DL fave?

OP really should have gone with this photo....

I never heard Rayburn had an ego, but I have heard he was hung like a horse.

I guess you could put a bag over his head...

Watching syndicated reruns on the game show channels shows a lot of sexual harassment by men, a clear distinction between those who understood the Mad Libs format, and those who didn't, plus the blatant racism and sexism in nearly every joke and Blank question.

I loved it as a kid, but now cringe several times watching reruns.

She’s on GSN right now!

R26 Take away all that, and you are left with nothing funny!

Yes, R30. If you compare Alec Baldwin's reboot of the game show, you can see how careful the Blank questions are; nothing like the olden days.

R2 I was with them the night that photo was taken! It was after her cabaret show, in which she was wonderful. She invited my husband & I to join them for a drink. Despite their marriage not working out it was obvious they adored each other. Klugman was clearly proud of her. Beaming after her show. A great night.

What a way to earn a living. Game show panelist. No dignity at all. B movie horror movie actors get more respect.

Game show panelist - for a LIVING?

[quote] Gene Rayburn and Richard Dawson both seemed like that had massive egos and were major assholes. I notice towards the end Richard didn't clap when Gene was introduced as "Star" of the show.

Well, Charles stopped clapping for him well before that. it was so noticeable that Gene actually mentioned it on the air. I think people had been writing in asking if they were in a feud.

As for Richard's behavior, it wasn't Gene he was mad at, it was the producers who would not let him out of his contract. He had already begun Family Feud, which became a massive hit, and wanted to leave Match Game. But the producers were not going to let him go until his contract was up because they now had the biggest thing in game shows on their own show. So Richard stayed until the bitter end, but he was very nasty and unfriendly and stopped cracking jokes or participating. He came in, did his job and the only people he was civil to were the contestants. I think he was hoping there would be complaints and they'd let him go early.

I loved when Gene called on "Chuck" and Charles butched it up. The jokes were funny and everyone was having a good time or at least pretended like they were. The only time I ever recall any racist joke where from the black panelists. I loved Scoey. I have no idea who he is or what he's famous for, but you knew it was going to be a good "Brett" week when Scoey was there.

[quote] The jokes were funny and everyone was having a good time or at least pretended like they were

I read in a biography of Paul Lynde that, on taping days for HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, they'd break for dimmer at which the alcohol flowed freely, I wonder if the same thing occurred on THE MATCH GAME.

I would have loved to have been around when Charles Nelson Reilly was on in "Bye Bye Birdie" as Dick Van Dyke's understudy, sharing scenes with Paul Lynde. Chita Rivera said he had told her he was a nervous wreck before going on but made it through just fine. Granted, Chita probably has never said a mean word about anybody, but having known Charles back in the 1990's when he was focusing on directing, I bet he went out there and made it through pure determination. Charles was a very kind man who got me house seats (comp!) for "The Gin Game" which he directed. I will never forget that. He went out of his way to contact me right before I left L.A. for New York and gave instructions of how to claim my seats AND take my friend backstage to meet both Julie Harris and Charles Durning after the show. A truly wonderful man!

She is what I imagine God looks like.

That’s a wonderful story, r38

One of the things that made Match Game so much fun and successful was the banter between Brett and Charles, who seems to have so much fun together. They got along fine for most of the show's run, but the later years, you can see Richard becoming more of a prima donna, and he was phoning it in towards the end. I think the other regulars were angry with him for that reason.

I would hate to have to kiss Richard Dawson in his Family Feud Days.

The first chair was for a male star who was promoting something, usually a movie of the week or a nightclub act. The fourth chair was for the bimbo of the week for Gene and Richard to flirt with. Then the last chair was for a semi-regular (Fanny, Betty, Patti, and Joyce)

[quote] The fourth chair was for the bimbo of the week for Gene and Richard to flirt with.

I've been called many things, but never a bimbo

How disgusting when Gene would take out his Binaca and force a kiss on the "new" bimbo of the week, yuck.

I liked Brett, but I also felt a lot of pity for her.

Klugman was the one invited on the show, but he made it conditional that Brett come on as well. As soon as she got her seat, he left the show and apparently her. It was too long afterward that she started moaning on air "Please come back Jack" show after show or making a critical comment about him.

It also looked apparent that when she started showing that increasing neediness for attention, they Gene and Charles responded to her for both support and to keep the show moving on. If they hadn't, she would've talked for the whole half hour.

She was also the one panelist whom it was obvious had a drinking problem on air. Again Gene and Charles would both try to lessen her on air drunkenness by cracking jokes about the Russian "Water" or "soda" that was in the cup she was sipping.

I liked Klugman as an actor but came to despise him for basically dumping Brett on air for his trophy girlfriends.

^^^^^^ WASN'T too long afterward.

[quote] Klugman was the one invited on the show, but he made it conditional that Brett come on as well. As soon as she got her seat, he left the show and apparently her. It was too long afterward that she started moaning on air "Please come back Jack" show after show or making a critical comment about him.

That's not really accurate. Match Game started in 73ish and they began going through divorce proceedings in late '77. And she would mention Jack on the show happily for the first 2-3 years she was on. It was only during the divorce proceedings that she started making cracks about divorce lawyers and the bitterness would come out.

Trust me on this- I spent a year doing cancer treatment about 3 years back and I watched a LOT of TV. I would DVR Match Game on both GSN and Buzzr and watch all the episodes. Nostalgia TV was a fantastic distraction from all the side effects.

I loved her! I’m watching all past Match Games and she had the tendency to be quite sensitive. She loved to be feisty and play and joke, but sometimes she appeared sensitive if an individual she didn’t like joked with her. Hence Richard Dawson, Elaine Joyce. She definitely had her favorite stars, and she was not shy showing her dislike for others. Love her!

Brett was my favorite star on “Match Game”. She was the mostly lively and entertaining, along with Charles Nelson Reilly. The banter between them was fun.

I liked Fanny Flagg, too. She always wore the most outrageous, tight fitting sweaters. One of them had a huge dollar sign on it. Gene Rayburn ask if she was a bank. She replied that “this window is closed.” It was hilarious.

We need a thread about DebraLee Scott.

Brett lived in Beverly Hills and like to mention it on the show, Technically it was true. But she was in the flat part so far down you could see Olympic from her backyard.

[quote]She invited my husband & I

Oh, dear!

The last seat had to be someone likeable so the audience could “forgive” them if one of the contestants lost because of them.

I liked it when Richard Dawson's old Hogan's Heroes and Laugh In co-stars were on.

I also recall CNR's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir co-star Hope Lange being on at least once.

Were Brett and Jack Catholic? That might explain why Jack waited until Brett was dead to remarry.

FYI, Ethel Merman had a thing for Jack Klugman when they were doing Gypsy together on Broadway. As Jack sums it up:

TM: You had a great relationship with Merman, didn't you?

JK: I loved that lady. We had a very good relationship once we got over the sex thing. When we were in Philadelphia, she asked me what I was doing after the show. "Playing poker," I said, and she said, "It'd be more fun in my hotel room." I said, "Ethel, you've had affairs with every one of your leading men, and then you didn't talk to them. We've got such a good thing going, why spoil it?" She said "Okay," and that was that. We formed a very good friendship, but I didn't like doing a long run. At one point, I told Ethel, "I want to get out of this play," and she said, "You can't; you've got a two-year contract, and I'm not going to let you out, you're too good a supporter." I said, "Right, that's all I am. I'm a jockstrap."

Sometimes I Feel like I’m Brett Somers.

Always loved her, cool seeing her on BUZZR again. She did an interview on the DVD of "Match Game" (I know, I know, not whole seasons, just a few sample ones) where she admitted the one panelist she didn't like: Elaine Joyce. (I have developed the hots for her hubby, Bobby Van, decades after he died). Never mentioned issues with Dawson and he was dead by then. I think Betty White is on record that Dawson was prickly and not much fun to work with.

Elaine Joyce was one panelist who actively competed with Brett for attention throughout each show.

I got the feeling Elaine Joyce knew she was got under Brett's skin.

R48

I hope you're cancer free, but you are wrong about Jack and Brett.

He dumped her after getting her on the show. In 1974 he took up with a woman named Barbara Neugass

See the link for the article about his split from the woman he left Brett for and lived with for nearly 20 years.

After he dumped the girlfriend, she took him to court.

After her, he took up with another woman who was a lot younger than him.

You may have seen some reruns several years ago but I watched this show daily when it was first run and his split from Somers was big news in the tabloids

[quote] "Ethel, you've had affairs with every one of your leading men, and then you didn't talk to them. .."

I'd never heard that Merman and big-dicked Fernando Lamas had an affair. Everything I've read indicates she hated him from the beginning

“(I have developed the hots for her hubby, Bobby Van, decades after he died).”

Never change, Datalounge.

Gene seemed kind of annoying but basically harmless. Why did Charles hate him? Could he just not take it anymore?

R65

I can't remember if it was in an article or another forum online, but it dealt with CNR sometimes had issues with GR making jokes about homosexuality that he perceived as being mean spirited. Rayburn and Dawson conversing with lisps and limp wrists flailing come to mind. CNR obviously was comfortable being himself and making jokes like referring to himself as "Chuck" in a manly voice.

But, r66, Gene was friends with a few gays, Charles included.

This was a good read:

R67

R65 said CNR hated GR, I didn't.

Go pick on him.

R68, I hope you didn’t take that as picking on you. That honestly was not my intent at all. You posted saying CNR didn’t like the overt gay jokes by Gene and I was pointing out Gene’s book, which shows he was very friendly with CNR (and other gays).

No, I didn't say that CNR didn't like overtly gay jokes. Overt and mean spirited are two different things.

I said I read either an article or a discussion on another forum where it was discussed that CNR was comfortable being himself and joking about himself, but he did sometimes get annoyed at mean spirited humor, and it showed on air. One example given was Richard Dawson flaming it up and Rayburn joining in. If anything, I would imagine CNR's annoyance would've been his friend GR encouraging RD.

Dawson didn't get along with CNR and Brett Somers, so it wouldn't surprise me if CNR took his humor as demeaning.

I'm well aware that Gene Rayburn, Brett Somers, and CNR were good friends. I'd say Fannie Flagg, Betty White, Marcia Wallace, Patti Deutsch and Nipsy Russell were part of that circle as well.

Richard Dawson? No.

Yeah I agree. Dawson was sort of an Island unto himself. Sometimes they all seemed to get along great and you’d say, “no, they like each other,” and other times you’ll see Brett gives daggers to Dawson.

I also know Dawson did not like to be called Dicky, which she did frequently.

Elaine Joyce and Bobby Van (the dancer) made very homophobic jokes and comments on TattleTales. I also can’t stand women who play dumb and think it’s sexy.

Elaine was awful.

Brett was really mean to Betty and even Joyce Bulifant. I didn’t like that about her - probably a mean drunk.

She was worse to Mary Ann Mobley.

I'd be worse to mary Ann Mobley.

I felt bad for Mary Ann Mobley.

She tried hard to fit in with the regulars, but she was possibly worst joke teller ever.

Before showing her answer, she'd start to make a joke that turned into an endless story that was usually stopped by Dawson snoring into his mic, or Brett yelling "Get on with it!"

Mobley was hopeless trying to be funny on that show.

Mobley had the comic timing of a rutabaga.

Elaine's dumb blonde act was the worst until Suzanne Somers' (no relation to Brett, I assume) Chrissy.

Patti Deutsch's answers were so wacky.

When I was a kid, I loved when they showed who would be on next week, but, as a kid, I didn't understand the tape ahead schedule. So I thought it was all magic.

[quote] Brett was really mean to Betty and even Joyce Bulifant. I didn’t like that about her - probably a mean drunk.

I never felt she was mean to Betty. They used to joke with each other all the time.

Weirdest thing about Elaine Joyce is that she later dated reclusive writer J.D. Salinger.

Brett looked like Jack’s evil twin, in drag.

For what it's worth, Klugman said in a palimony suit that he never loved Barbara Neugass, even though they lived together for 18 years.

And he started living with his second wife Peggy Crosby in 1988, but was ALSO living with Barbara Neugass at the time, up until 1992.

Because he clearly had a history of living with multiple women at the same time, it's possible he and Brett considered themselves still married for the first few years he had Neugass as a side piece.

Elaine Joyce from Bing Images.....

No shit, R83, had never heard that, thanks. I just knew she became Mrs. Neil Simon later, knew how to work that NYC world clearly. Hard to picture her with Salinger but, by most accounts, he wasn't particularly weird (his son never bashed him, for one) but was uncomfortable being the Savior for all those sad loners he'd captured in that book. (Still my favorite book of al time, I must admit, so I might've been one of them had I been born a decade or two earlier).

[quote]I liked Fanny Flagg, too. She always wore the most outrageous, tight fitting sweaters. One of them had a huge dollar sign on it. Gene Rayburn ask if she was a bank. She replied that “this window is closed.” It was hilarious.

Only Rita Mae Brown had the right PIN for that account.

Was Fannie out of the closet in the 70s?

Patty Duke is Patron Saint. Brett is nowhere near that status.

Brett's the female equivalent to St Patrick.

No, R89, not really now either, from a different old school. Very private. Sure she was mortified when Brown wrote that about Fannie setting her pubic hair on fire.

Odd to see her comic persona on "Match Game" is the horny lovelorn aunt who swoons for the male contestants. If you watch closely, though, you can see when she takes a spark to a short haired female contestant from time to time.

Also very weird that she is almost illiterate, can't spell words like "WHITE" sometimes. Dyslexic, maybe, but no way she is sitting down and writing those books. More speaking in tape recording and then someone puts them to page.

R89

I don't think so.

IIRC, she and CNR actually appeared as a couple on Tattletales or another game show at least once.

Brett was a WASP? I always thought she was Jewish. She was by hot beef injection.

R89

I found it.

In 1975, Fannie Flagg and Dick Sergeant (the gay Darren) posed as a couple on Tattletales for one week.

You can't get any more lavender than that, r96.

R89/97

I knew I had also seen CNR on Tattletales.

He and Elizabeth Allen posed as a couple the same year Fannie was on it.

Brett later did a cabaret act near the end of her life in which she dished on her Match Game co-stars. She said she disliked Elaine Joyce for being a showoff and Richard Dawson for being mean. She also said she disliked and jeered at Joyce Bulifant because she played to game poorly. But I think it was deeper than that, because Brett was nice to others who didn't play well (Patti Deutsch).

She dearly loved CNR and Gene Rayburn. And Fannie Flagg and Marcia Wallace were among her best friends.

She said her career flat out ended after her cancer battle was leaked to the press a few years after Match Game. She recovered but no one would hire her.

She remained on good terms with Klugman, who actually came to her act one night. That was the picture of him with her and Marcia Wallace.

r93 Wikipedia mentions her relationships with Rita Mae Brown and Susan Flannery, so whatever.

I worked with Jack when he did shows with Tony Randall's National Actors Theater on Broadway. They did Three Men on a Horse, The Sunshine Boys and a one night benefit of The Odd Couple. Jack was a DOLL! He'd already had the cancer surgery that had basically fucked up his vocal cords so he sounded terrible, but you could still easily understand him, and after a few minutes, the shock wore off and you didn't even notice it.

I remember a few times patrons would complain about him at intermission. The house manager was fantastic and would tell them to stop complaining and just enjoy the show and the fact that a legend had gone through all of that and was still willing to perform for them. Most of the time that cowed them.

Wasn't Brett a TV personality more than an actress?

...I mean, Joyce Bulifant was an actress.

Bret lived in Encino, quite close to the motel/hotel that Rayburn always stayed during tapings. Rayburn never moved to the west coast and his home remained back east. Bret and Rayburn shared the same limo to the studio and when Brett would drive herself in, Rayburn would ride with her. Rayburn almost always had his wife with while staying in Encino. That was the big joke about Brett and Rayburn meeting up for connubials at the Encino motel. Brett never lived in Beverly Hill, but Encino is a very posh neighborhood in its own right. The joke about Encino was due to its location, it was in the valley. Just through the Sepulveda Pass on the 405, a mere stones throw from Belaire and a little further from Beverley Hills, but none the less quite close by. The show was taped in the valley at CBS/Burbank. Fanny Flag wasn't out as a lesbian during Match Game. Rayburn was very proud of having a college degree, few if any of the panelists had college degrees. This sometimes showed through his banter, subtly, but it showed.

R105, Match Game was taped at Television City on Fairfax next to the Farmers Market and The Grove, or at least that's what it said on the end credits. Are you sure about the Burbank thing?

And Brett mentioned numerous times she lived in Beverly Hills. Charles (of all people) didn’t call her out on it, either, but seemed to support it.

R105

He also liked to show off his Serbo-Croatian roots on the rare occasion he had a contestant with roots in the Balkans. It was interesting to hear him break out in another language so fluently.

It wasn’t taped in Burbank, r105.

I stand corrected, I did state MG was taped in Burbank, but I got NBC studios confused with CBS's Television City on Fairfax. CBS is correct r105

Gene Rayburn's looks reminded me of those pinhead girls in the movie FREAKS.

Did Richard’s tantrums start with the Star Wheel? Or was he already arguing with them about Family Feud? I heard the other stars hated how every contestant would choose him to help in the super match, so the producers introduced the wheel maybe to piss off Richard as well.

And then the very first time they used the Star Wheel, they spun it and it landed on Richard. The others did a faux comic walk out in protest.

I liked the Star Wheel. It got boring picking Dawson all the time. I think the success of Family Feud coupled with the Star Wheel made Dawson insufferable. But he was an excellent player and the producers probably thought it was worth, at least as long for a little time. They let him go after one episode where he sulked more than usual. Of course Dawson was eager to go.

At least for a little time ^^^

She smoked? Not interested.

A lot of them smoked -- on the air. So weird to see cigarette smoke coming from ashtrays by their name plates. But, hey, it was the '70s. We could smoke in schools then.

My high school had a smoking area outside. We called it “The Pit”.

Teachers smoked in their lounge so a huge haze of black smog hung over the room. We students would always note it as we walked past in the hall. So much easier to be a smoker then, so much harder to live with it if you didn't.

It's too bad that Elaine Stritch was in London for most of this period. She would have been a fun panelist. I see that she appeared on a few game shows. Charles Nelson Reilly directed her in an Off Broadway revival of "Private Lives". I sensed when I mentioned Stritch in a conversation with him that he had issues with her, because his eyes lightly rolled, and we moved onto the subject of another actress. She mentioned in an interview that she had worked with some lousy directors, but I doubt they were lousy. They just couldn't control her, especially with her own drinking habit. Actually, Eileen Heckart or Grayson Hall or Selma Diamond or Carrie Nye (all baritone babes) would have been fun on the show, too.

GAME SHOW panelists? Was that considered WORK? On TELEVISION? Teehee

Just discovered that of the baritone ladies I mentioned, Selma Diamond did appear on the early "Match Game" (1960's) that was hosted by Gene but quite different.

Oscar winners and nominees did show up on "Match Game", M. Patty Duke, George Kennedy, Shelley Winters, Lynn Redgrave, etc.

I was on the crosstown bus heading west from Grand Central and a crazy looking lady was running toward the bus trying to stop it so she could get on - the driver was nice enough to pick her up because it was raining. She sat next to me, and I realized it was Brett Somers. I was a big fan, so of course I had to tell her how much I admired her. She seemed genuinely surprised and touched that I recognized her. I rode with her to 42nd and 8th. Very nice memory for me.

CNR often did Tattletales with Julie Harris. Good Lord!

R126 was this after Match Game ended?

R127 Charles and Julie were very good friends, dating back to "Skyscraper" on Broadway. He directed her in several plays, including her Tony nominated performance in "The Gin Game" w/Charles Durning. It says a lot about theater actors when they can do a game show or soap opera (as many New York theater actors did when they couldn't find a play to do) that they'll do these types of parts.

It always irritated me that Dicky Dawson got picked so often by contestants when Charles was really good at the game, too.

R129, I'm well aware of their history but the concept was that TT often had gay men/lesbians on the show as couples.

I would come home from elementary school and watch this show like it was so important. I could have been learning a language!

It still holds up as a nice guilty pleasure too. On BZZER channel several hour blocks every day.

On a side note, I have been on 3 game shows in my life (used to be the lifetime limit) and two are showing on BZZER. I am dreading the day when I look up and see me on "Sale of the Century" -- losing. ("Password" too).

Tell us when not to watch!

[quote] You smoked in school?

In college (early 1980s) one of my professors told the class he was going to smoke during class and if anyone else wished to smoke, please sit near the windows, which were kept open. We non-smokers were encouraged to sit on the other side of the classroom.

To be honest, as a non-smoker I really don't remember it being a problem

R126 here - this happened in the mid 90s. Well past the heyday.

R120 my hs called it the pit too. For some reason we called the smokers dirt balls. Doubt it helped anyone’s teenaged self esteem.

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