Terry Ree, half of the Williams and Ree comedy and music duo along with Bruce Williams, has died. He was 75.
Ree died Saturday from unspecified causes, Williams’ wife, Sharon Hallingdal Williams, said on her Facebook page. “So sorry to say Terry Ree passed away this morning. He and Bruce were partners as the comedy duo Williams and Ree for more than fifty years. Please keep his wife Carol and sons Michael and Rob in your prayers,” she wrote on Dec. 21.
Ree and Williams described their comedy and music act as “The Indian and The White Guy” as they were regulars on the North American country music concert circuit, including clubs and casinos and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Their country and music performances were also blended with politically incorrect comedy routines.
Williams and Ree also performed alongside country music stars like Garth Brooks, The Oak Ridge Boys and Tim McGraw. Their TV credits included HeeHaw, Laff TV and Comedy Central, and they appeared alongside Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) on the cooking and talk series Country Kitchen on The Nashville Network.
Williams and Ree were inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. They performed comedy that “eschews political correctness and conformity and spins comedy gold from the union of a Plains Indian (Terry Ree) and a Western Angloid (Bruce Williams),” according to their website.
In a 2022 interview with the Citrus County Chronicle, Ree, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe, explained how the nickname for their comedy act came about. “We started calling ourselves The Indian and The White Guy because nobody could remember our real names. We talk about how my land was stolen and how Bruce wants to be my partner in case we ever get paid for it,” he explained.
Born in Huron, South Dakota, Ree graduated from Pierre High school in 1968, and the same year met Williams at Black Hills State University in Spearfish. After a decade as openers for regional musical acts, and only gradually incorporating often crass comedy into their act, Williams and Ree moved to Los Angeles and became regulars at the Comedy Store during the late 1970s.
They made early TV appearance son Make Me Laugh, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, The Jim Nabors Show, Dinah! and Norm Crosby’s Comedy Shop. In a 2023 interview with The Dakota Scout, Ree explained why he and Williams hadn’t changed their unapologetically politically incorrect comedy and music act over the years.
“We just love what we do, and for 55 years people have been coming to see us. And we appreciate that so much. We just want to do it until we can’t do it anymore,” Ree said.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
