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KEN OBER (Getty Images/File 2004) |
Ken Ober, a brassy comedian best known as the host of the 1980s-era MTV game show “Remote Control,’’ was found dead Sunday in his home in Santa Monica, Calif. Mr. Ober, a Brookline native and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was 52.
Lee Kernis, who represented Mr. Ober for about 20 years, said Mr. Ober was last heard from on Saturday night, when he spoke to a friend and complained of a headache and flulike symptoms. Autopsy results are pending.
Mr. Ober grew up idolizing game show hosts such as Bob Barker and Bob Eubanks and went on to host four game shows, including a revived version of the classic “Make Me Laugh’’ on Comedy Central in 1997.
His breakthrough had come a decade earlier. He had received national exposure as a contestant on “Star Search,’’ reaching the semifinal round in the comedy competition, when MTV hired him in 1987 to be the host of ’’Remote Control.’’ It was among the network’s first original series to focus on nonmusical content.
“Remote Control’’ tested participants’ knowledge of television, music video, and pop culture trivia. The show, which helped launch the careers of comedians such as Adam Sandler, Denis Leary, and Colin Quinn, drew much of its sarcastic, self-mocking spirit from Mr. Ober, who ran the program like a late-night talk show (or frat party) and gleefully teased players who gave wrong answers.
“His personality really brought `Remote Control’ to life, as well as a new style of programming for MTV,’’ Van Toffler, the president of MTV Networks, said yesterday. “We were really flying by the seat of our pants then, and Ken was the reason it worked.’’
Mr. Ober was born in Brookline in 1957. After his parents divorced, he moved to Hartford with his mother, where he remained until college.
Mr. Ober attended UMass-Amherst, where he helped found the fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha.
“He was always the funniest guy in the room,’’ said his roommate at UMass, Mike DeMattia of Norwood. “But he was quiet and introverted when he wasn’t the center of attention.’’
Mr. Ober graduated from UMass in 1980 and worked as a substitute teacher in the Boston suburbs for two years before switching to comedy full time.
“He was the best, just the best,’’ said his father, Burton of Palm Springs, Fla. “If you needed anything he was always there.’’
In addition to his father, Mr. Ober leaves his mother, Claire Freeman of Hartford; his stepmother, Iris Ober of Palm Springs, Fla.; and a half-brother, Andrew Freeman of Old Greenwich, Conn.
Services have not been scheduled, but Kernis said Mr. Ober will be cremated or buried wearing a Tony Conigliaro Red Sox jersey, per his request.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.