![]() He spent much of the 1970s as a news reporter and anchor, using the name Charles Kennedy. His last movie role was in the 2003 Sylvester Stallone film ''Shade."īorn Charles Claverie, he attended the Rhode Island School of Design and was influential in the Providence arts scene. His movie credits included ''Dumb & Dumber" (1994) and ''Dances With Wolves" (1990). Rocket was the philandering husband of Geena Davis in ''Earth Girls Are Easy" (1989) and an obnoxious campus administrator in ''How I Got Into College" (1989). Rocket portrayed Bruce Willis's brother on ''Moonlighting" (ABC) and was featured in recurring roles on ''Touched by an Angel" (CBS) and ''Max Headroom" (ABC). He went on to appear in many television shows and to provide voices for animated series. Rocket told People magazine in 1989 of the single word that derailed his early career. ''I'm not proud of the fact it slipped through," Mr. The former television newscaster was fired soon after along with other cast members and writers on the show, which had tepid ratings. Rocket joined the ''SNL" cast in the fall of 1980 and let an expletive slip the following February during a spoof of the famed ''Who Shot J.R.?" plot line from the CBS night-time soap ''Dallas." Viewers complained, and NBC issued an apology. Paul Vance said yesterday.Ī native of Bangor, Maine, Mr. ''Our investigation at the scene determined there was no criminal aspect to this case," State Police Sergeant J. His throat had been cut, and the Connecticut medical examiner's office has ruled his death a suicide. 7 in a field near his home in Canterbury, Conn. He was 56, and is survived by his wife Beth and son Zane.LOS ANGELES - Charles Rocket, an actor and former ''Saturday Night Live" comedian who gained notoriety almost 25 years ago for uttering an unscripted obscenity during a skit on the NBC show, has died. The Connecticut state medical examiner later ruled that he had committed suicide. Rocket's body was discovered in a field near his home in Canterbury, Connecticut, on Octohis throat had been cut. Rocket played a rival network president Ned Grossberg on the 1980s cyberpunk series Max Headroom. ![]() Rocket recovered from this early career setback and acted in many films, including Earth Girls Are Easy, It's Pat, Dances with Wolves, and Dumb and Dumber, and as a recurring guest star on episodic TV. New producer Dick Ebersol replaced most other cast members later. ![]() The incident seemed to encapsulate all that was wrong with Saturday Night Live at the time, and both Rocket and Doumanian were soon fired (along with some of the writers and fellow cast member Gilbert Gottfried). A wheelchair-bound Charles audibly mumbled that he'd like to know who the f_ did it, followed by the cast and audience reacting with shock and embarrassed laughter. At the end of the show, there was some time to kill, so members of the cast appeared onstage with Tilton, who improvised and asked Rocket how he felt about being shot. Rocket was then shot in the chest by a sniper in the final sketch. ![]() The Februepisode hosted by Dallas star Charlene Tilton featured an ongoing joke in which different cast members would vow revenge on him for some reason, in a parody of the famed Who Shot J.R.? episode of Dallas. Unfortunately, Rocket would eventually doom both his and Doumanian's tenures on the show with one word. Rocket was somewhat of a standout, though, with a majority of his sketches and Update bits garnering large laughs. However, the new cast (save for Joe Piscopo and later Eddie Murphy) was not at all popular with audiences. Singled out by new executive producer Jean Doumanian as the star of her new ensemble, Rocket was promoted as "kind of a cross between Bill Murray and Chevy Chase." Rocket was given the role of anchor for the show's Weekend Update news parody, and was featured in many sketches. He made his network debut on the popular program Saturday Night Live. He later anchored the local news at Channel 12 WPRI. He made several short films and fronted his band, the Fabulous Motels. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design in the late 1960s, and was part of the Rhode Island underground scene in the following decade. Charles Rocket, born Charles Claverie, was an American film and television actor.
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