Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion

Subject: BS: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: Wesley S
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 05:38 PM

I'm not sure if this belongs above the line or not. But sound effects man Tom Keith has passed away.


Full Story Here


Tom Keith, best known as the longtime master of sound effects for Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show, has died, Minnesota Public Radio reported Monday.

Keith died Sunday after collapsing at his Woodbury home, the St. Paul-based radio network said. He was 64.

Keith provided sound effects and character voices for the nationally syndicated show, which is produced by MPR and American Public Media.

"We loved working with him," Tim Russell, an actor on the show, told MPR. "It's just one of those things that you can't believe something like this could happen."

The St. Paul native has been a radio partner with Keillor since 1976.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: CapriUni
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 05:48 PM

I've fallen out of love with Kiellor and PHC over the last few years... But Tom Kieth was one of the show's bright spots. Peace and comfort to those who knew him.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 06:29 PM

This is so sad! We loved listening to him...he was SO talented. Really sorry to hear this.

Condolences to all who knew him.

kat & my Rog

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 06:44 PM

As a long-time listener to A Prairie Home Companion, this news elicited a gasp.

I loved the competitions they would sometimes do between the sound effects guys. That is a talent that is under-appreciated in this day of electronic everything. He was only 64.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: catspaw49
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 06:58 PM

What a bummer...........I was so glad they let him be himself in the damn movie. He was one of the best things. If you were ever a listener to PHC I'd bet Tom Keith's great work was something you liked the best.......truly woven into the essential fabric of the show.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Tom Keith, best known as the longtime master of sound effects for Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show, has died, Minnesota Public Radio reported Monday.

Keith died Sunday after collapsing at his Woodbury home, the St. Paul-based radio network said. He was 64.

In a statement late Monday afternoon, Keillor said that Keith died of a heart attack.

Keith last appeared on the nationally syndicated "Prairie Home" on Oct. 22 from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, with guest headliner John Lithgow.

Keith "complained of shortness of breath the next week, but put off going to see a doctor," Keillor's statement continued. After his collapse, Keith was "was conscious afterward but died in the ambulance on his way to the hospital."

"We loved working with him," Tim Russell, an actor on the show, told MPR. "It's just one of those things that you can't believe something like this could happen."

The St. Paul native has been a radio partner with Keillor since 1976, creating creaking doors, footsteps, barking dogs and the like.

"Tom was one of radio's great clowns," Keillor said. "He was serious about silliness and worked hard to get a moo exactly right and the cluck too and the woof.

"His whinny was amazing — noble, vulnerable, articulate. He did bagpipes, helicopters, mortars, common drunks, caribou (and elands and elk and wapiti), garbage trucks backing up, handsaws and hammers, and a beautiful vocalization of a man falling from a great height into piranha-infested waters."

MPR and American Public Media CEO Jon McTaggart announced Keith's death to staff members and said he was waiting to hear details, the network reported.

Along with the myriad sounds Keith contributed to the show, he also had his own roster of recurring characters on long-running story lines. They included Larry from under the basement, Maurice the maitre d from the Café Boeuf and Timmy the teenager.

Keith's sound-effects talents were often tested when Keillor would "do a script on the fly and Tom would keep up with the sound effects and animal noises," said David O'Neill, the show's marketing director and archivist. "A running gag was when [Keillor] would get to an elk and then a moose, etc., and they'd all be the same sound."

In an interview in June posted on the show's website, Keith said he gets barely a day's notice about what sounds the scripts will call for.

"[Cast members] first see the scripts on Friday during our first rehearsal," he said. "Garrison knows what I have in my sound effects kit, but sometimes I have to come up with something new. If I can't, then the script will be adjusted.

"Sometimes on Saturday [the day of the show] we might even get a new script we haven't seen and run through it during rehearsal and then have that edited just before broadcast."

Keith also appeared as himself -- as did Keillor and other cast regulars -- in the 2006 Robert Altman movie "A Prairie Home Companion," which starred Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Lindsay Lohan.

"I'm glad I didn't have to memorize any lines," Keith said in the June interview. "It was absolutely fascinating for me to see how a movie is made. It's a lot of work trying to coordinate everything and everyone."

In 2008, Keith wrapped up 26 years broadcasting as "Jim Ed Poole" on MPR's "The Morning Show" with Dale Connelly.

"The Morning Show" was unorthodox since the beginning, when Keillor first came up with a show that poked fun at the station's classical play list, as well as the various peculiarities and eccentricities of life in Minnesota.

Keith last appeared on "Prairie Home" on Oct. 22 from the Fitzgerald, with guest headliner John Lithgow. Saturday's show was from Colorado College, but Keith does not travel with the production.

Saturday's show was from Colorado College, but Keith does not travel with the production. This Saturday's show is from Murray State University in Kentucky. The "Prairie Home" website said that listeners will hear "a few kind words for our dear friend and colleague Tom Keith."

Details about services for Keith are pending.


Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: Janie
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 07:17 PM

This is such sad news. PHC has been my steadiest Saturday night companion for many years, and the fine job he did is one of the reasons for that. He will be missed.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: Padre
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 10:13 PM

Sad news indeed. Tom's amazing sound affects were a great part of PHC.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 10:32 PM

NPR has a story that has some links.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Comp.
From: Greg B
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 11:11 PM

PHC will never be the same.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 07:39 AM

Prairie Home Companion sound effects man Tom Keith remembered
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/10/31/tom-keith-obit/

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 07:44 AM

Tom Keith 1946-2011
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/special/tom-keith/

A tribute by Garrison Keillor and lots of pictures, videos, links to other articles

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 08:43 AM

I just heard an announcement on Minnesota Public Radio that they will have a special tribute to Tom Keith from noon to 1 p.m. today—that would be 1 to 2 p.m. Mudcat time.

I believe you can hear the live streaming audio from MPR by clicking here. (If not, go to this page and click "Listen Now.")

I assume the program will also be archived for later retrieval. Watch for a link to appear later.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Kim C
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 11:12 AM

Aw man. He was one of my favorites.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 01:25 PM

News that is startling as well as sad. And it may not be just US expats like me who will miss him here in the UK, as the GK Show has made it onto the BBC's digital radio station 4Extra (albeit the shows being broadcast now are from last year).

Thanks for all the links -- I've been following them up.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Irene M
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 04:21 PM

What a shame.
In recent years we have had the edited year-old version of PHC in the UK, as Yorkshire Yankee says.
I always like the sound effects challenge, which gets madder and madder.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Nov 11 - 02:26 PM

The tribute I mentioned earlier, which was broadcast yesterday, has now been archived and a link to it has been added to the page "Tom Keith 1946-2011" – see the link above.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: GUEST,bflat
Date: 02 Nov 11 - 03:00 PM

How sad! I've enjoyed so many of his performances all with amazement. My condolences to his family and friends.

Ellen

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 07:07 PM

Brian Williams mentioned Tom Keith on NBC Nightly News tonight.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 07:31 PM

Listening to the tribute, now. Thanks for all of the links, Jim. PHC will never be the same.

Subject: RE: Obit - Tom Keith from Prairie Home Companion
From: Genie
Date: 05 Nov 11 - 05:37 AM

What an amazing talent! And how sad that he should be taken away so young!

Yes, PHC has at least one other very talented sound-effects person, but Tom Keith is pretty much irreplaceable.

At least I am glad that NBC Nightly News recognized his brilliance enough to mention him on a national broadcast.

My condolences to all Tom's friends and family.