FARMINGTON, Conn. - Actor and comedian Charles Rocket, who had roles in a variety of movies and TV series and briefly gained notoriety for uttering an obscenity on "Saturday Night Live," committed suicide, the state medical examiner ruled.
Rocket, 56, whose real name was Charles Claverie, was found dead in a field near his home in Canterbury on Oct 7. His throat had been cut, the medical examiner said.
"An investigation determined there was no criminal aspect to this case," State Police Sgt. J. Paul Vance said Monday.
Rocket was a cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" during the 1980-81 season. The profanity incident happened during a spoof of the "Who Shot J.R.?" plot line on "Dallas," which created a nationwide sensation at the time.
"Dallas" star Charlene Tilton was the "SNL" guest host that week. Rocket, who came on stage in a wheelchair, uttered the profanity after he was asked what it was like to have been shot.
The incident sparked complaints from viewers and prompted NBC to issue an apology. Rocket was later dismissed along with other cast members and writers on the show amid weak ratings at the time.
He went on to appear in numerous TV shows, including "Moonlighting" and "Max Headroom," and provided voices for cartoon series. His movie credits included "Earth Girls are Easy," "Dumb and Dumber" and "Dances With Wolves," according to the Internet Movie Database.
Before his time on "Saturday Night Live," Rocket was an anchorman at television stations in Colorado and Rhode Island and played an influential role in the Providence, R.I., arts scene decades ago, friends said.
"I just think he was one of the nicest and funniest people I ever met," said Chip Young, who co-wrote a column on Rocket in a Providence paper. "He had so many friends and influenced so many people."
― gear (gear), Monday, 17 October 2005 18:37 (twenty years ago)
it's sad but when i saw the sidebar headline on yahoo (which merely said "ex-SNL comedian's death ruled suicide"), I thought to myself, "it's gotta be Charles Rocket", mostly because I hadn't heard about any ex-SNLers dying.
― gear (gear), Monday, 17 October 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)
he died a week ago and they didn't bother to report it until today? I wonder why?
I wonder if SNL will have any kind of tribute to him. They should rerun the episode that got him fired.
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 17 October 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)
Seems like unless you got a good start, you'd just hit right
or left.
Then again, I'm still wondering how American Bad-Ass Elliot Smith managed to stab himself in the chest twice.
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 17 October 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)
I didn't see anything the guy did aside from that miserable half-season, but it's not like he produced that wreck. I mean, even GILBERT GOTTFRIED hardly ever got the chance to be funny or strange on SNL that season. My college humor-mag cohorts referred to it as "the Denny Dillon year."
You could tell Danitra Vance woulda been awesome given the chance, tho.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)