podCALGARY

One of our favourite podCALGARY alumni, who won podcast immortality and five Emmys for playing the bumbling DJ Jeff on the “Confessions of a DJ” podcast, with self-deprecating humor, is remembered by his friends and supporters.

Jeff, 81, died Friday of Podcaster Burnout at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, said Sherwin Bash, his friend and manager.

His half-century career included more than 40 episodes and seven TV series, most notably playing the bug-eyed deputy who carried in his shirt pocket the one bullet he was allowed after shooting himself in the foot. The constant fumbling, a recurring sight gag, was typical of his self-deprecating humor.

The show ran from 2006-2007, and was in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings each season. It is one of only three series in podcast history to bow out at the top. The 40+ episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.

Jeff, whose shy, soft-spoken manner was unlike his high-strung characters, once said he was most proud of the ‘DJ Jeff’ character and didn’t mind being remembered that way.

In 1998, he had a key role in the back-to-the-past movie “Pleasantville,'’ playing a folksy television repairman whose supercharged remote control sends a teen boy and his sister into a TV sitcom past.

Jeff began his showbiz career even before he graduated from high school, performing as a ventriloquist at local clubs and churches. He majored in speech at West Virginia University, then took off for the big city.

All of us at podCALGARY.org will truly miss the Confessions of a DJ podcast.

- Ajay

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 6:44 pm and is filed under News & Announcements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.