R.I.P. Mark Blankfield (and Brandis Kemp)

We were saddened to learn that comedian Mark Blankfield (1950-2024) died a little while back. His passing seemed to take place on the quiet, without much publicity, for it had been some years since Blankfield had been in the limelight. He had gone back to his native Texas, where he worked as a schoolteacher. I’ve come across online accounts of former students not knowing that their prof had once been a famous screen personality.

Well, somewhat famous, though I was just the right age to have had Blankfield very much in my field of vision, and took it for granted that he would be a permanent part of the comedy firmament. He was the earliest star from the ABC late night comedy show Fridays(1980-82). Larry David and Michael Richards wouldn’t strike gold with Seinfeld until nearly a decade later. Blankfield’s popular characters on Fridays included Ken, a cross-eyed hunchbacked monster who was thrust into quotidian situations ever week, and a drugged out pharmacist, who was totally wacked out on his own product. His movies included The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) with Lily Tomlin, his starring vehicle Jekyll and Hyde…Together Again (1982), The Jerk Too (1984, stepping into the cruel shoes of Steve Martin), as well as Splash Too (1988) and the Mel Brooks comedies Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), as well as National Lampoon’s Favorite Deadly Sins (1995). Blankfield was also a regular on the short-lived TV series The Nutt House (1989) with Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman, and Good & Evil (1991) with Teri Garr. Among his 50 or so guest starring credits were episodes of Taxi, Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre, Sledge Hammer, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, and Coach. He retired following a 2003 appearance on Arrested Development.

From 1972 to 1987, Blankfield was married to actress Brandis Kemp (1944-2020), also a regular on Fridays. (I’m not sure if we knew they were married when the show was on). Kemp was six years’ Blankfield’s senior. The pair had met while acting at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. After Fridays wrapped Kemp was cast in the long-running 1983 LA revival of Tom Eyen’sWomen Behind Bars, which got her hired on the doomed M*A*S*H spin-off AfterMASH (1984-85). She went on to guest star on shows like Designing Women,Perfect Strangers, 227, The Wonder Years, ER, et al, and to take small roles on movies like Hexed (1993) and Clifford (1994).

A cancer survivor she, was killed from COVID-19 complications in 2020.

The pair reunited with fellow Fridays cast members for a special taping to accompany the release of Shout Factory’s DVD in 2013. Get The Best of Fridayshere.

And my tribute to the show is here.