Pat Brymer, Caddyshack's Gopher Puppeteer, Dies At 70

Pat Brymer, the puppeteer and puppet builder best known for films like Caddyshack has died at age 70. In fact, Brymer actually passed away on April 12th of cardiomyopathy; however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the announcement of his death was delayed until now. As stated, Brymer was the hand behind Caddyshack'sBushwood Country Club gopher, who tormented Bill Murray in the 1980 film. However, he had much more influence on Hollywood than that, including creating a modern version of Lamb Chop; working on cult films like Short Circuit; and serving as the lead puppeteer on South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Team America: World Police.

THR reports that James Patrick Brymer was born on March 17, 1950. He was from Highland Park, Illinois, and he studied theater at Illinois State University. He moved to St. Louis and got a job with Six Flags Over Mid-America, where he worked for Sid and Marty Krofft's puppet theater. It was there that Brymer established himself as a puppeteer and puppet builder, working with the Krofft brothers on a multitude of projects, including Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour, and various other shows ranging from a Raquel Welch Vegas show, and puppet characters for various amusement parks.

After his success doing Caddyshack, Pat Brymer established his own Pat Brymer Creations venture in 1983. From there he wracked up some nice career wins, including serving as head puppeteer on The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour and The Patti LaBelle Show; cult-hit films like Short Circuit, Team America: World Police, and So I Married an Axe Murderer; and even stunt work on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Unfortunately, his final feature-film credit was a puppet-on-human sex scene, in the big 2008 raunch-comedy flop, Extreme Movie.

That aside, Bryme not only had an impressive film and TV career, he also no doubt influenced a lot of others in the puppeteer trade. He will be missed, but his work will still be making film fans laugh - and children everywhere find a friend - for many years to come.

R.I.P. James Patrick Brymer - we wish his family, friends, and colleagues condolences for their loss.