Henry Gibson, poet-comic of ‘Laugh-In’

Mr. Gibson had cancer, said his son Jon.

Mr. Gibson, who more recently played a recurring role as cantankerous Judge Clark Brown on “Boston Legal,’’ was part of the original ensemble cast of “Laugh In,’’ which ran on NBC from 1968 to 1973.

The show, whose original cast included Goldie Hawn, Judy Carne, Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley, and others, was an immediate hit.

“Henry was an integral part of ‘Laugh-In’ for a long time, and he was brilliant,’’ said Gary Owens, the show’s announcer, who remained close to Mr. Gibson. “He was a very funny man.’’

Worley said Mr. Gibson “was probably the kindest person on ‘Laugh-In’ ’’ and was the person she’d call whenever she needed show-business advice.

George Schlatter, the executive producer and creator of “Laugh-In,’’ recalled that when Mr. Gibson auditioned for the show, “He came in and did a poem and a full back flip. He said, ‘Is that anything?’ I said, ‘Be here Monday.’ ’’

Mr. Gibson, Schlatter said, “brought a wonderful warmth and whimsy and a charm to ‘Laugh-In.’ That went a long way to balance some of the political, satirical, and bawdy humor we featured.

“Any piece we gave to Henry took on a different shape when he read it because he infused his own whimsy and his own gentle intelligence and wit to it.’’

In the show’s famous cocktail party scenes, when the music would stop and each cast member would deliver a funny line, Mr. Gibson was a religious figure holding a teacup and saucer.

“My congregation supports all denominations,’’ he said on one show, “but our favorites are twenties and fifties.’’

But Mr. Gibson was best known as the poet, holding a large flower and beginning his brief recitations with his signature catchphrase, “A poem, by Henry Gibson.’’

“He wrote all those himself,’’ said Jon Gibson. “It was a point of pride that he only read poems that he himself wrote.’’

His family said he used his fame to help support the fledgling environmental movement, including contributing op-ed pieces and poetry to newspapers.

Looking back on his time on “Laugh-In’’ in a 1993 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Gibson said, “It was an oasis of laughter and escape.’’

He also appeared in four films directed by Robert Altman, most notably “Nashville’’ (1975), in which he played country singer Haven Hamilton, for which he wrote most of his character’s songs and received a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor.

He also played an Illinois Nazi in “The Blues Brothers,’’ a menacing neighbor in “The ’Burbs,’’ and a priest in “The Wedding Crashers.’’ He was the voice of Wilbur the Pig in the animated “Charlotte’s Web.’’

He was born James Bateman in Germantown, Pa., and earned a bachelor’s degree in drama from Catholic University. In the early ’60s when he was living in New York City, his roommate was another struggling young actor, Jon Voight, whom he had met at Catholic University.

Voight recalled yesterday that they developed a small comedy act featuring two naive hillbilly characters. Voight said he came up with the names: Harold and Henry Gibson, the latter a derivative of playwright Henrik Ibsen’s name.

Mr. Gibson received a big break when he was invited to appear as the Henry Gibson character on the “Tonight’’ show.

“He was the kind of guy at that time, nothing could stop him,’’ said Voight.