Whitney Rydbeck, 1945 – 2024

Whitney Rydbeck, one of those “oh, him!” character actors who was in just about everything, died at the age of 79 on July 15. In the 1960s, Rydbeck was a mime, but he happily recovered form that and by the 1970s was appearing in small but memorable roles in films and on TV: The Brady Bunch, Phyllis, Rocky II, 1941, The Jayne Mansfield Story, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (as a game but doomed paintballer), Sleeper (as one of the robots), Star Trek: The Next Generation, 3rd Rock from the Sun, A Very Brady Sequel, and Scrubs, among many others. He also starred as a crash-test dummy in an influential TV PSA for seat belts (he mimed it up while Lorenzo “Carlton Your Doorman” Music provided his voice); one of his costumes from this spot is now at the Smithsonian). In later years, Rydeck taught drama at Pasadena City College.