Ken Ober rumor CONFIRMED

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on November 16th, 2009

It seems as though the rumor is true. We’re reading comments and status reports from credible sources (most notably Leah Krinsky) that Ken Ober died Saturday in his home.

Comedian Ken Ober, former host of the MTV game show Remote Control, is the object of a rumor that’s floating around on social media that says he’s dead. Ober was a producer of Tough Crowd, hosted by Colin Quinn and a producer on the hit CBS television series The New Adventures of Old Christine, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. He was 52. (See Ober’s IMDB page for even more information on his career.)

We checked his Wikipedia entry and it doesn’t indicate that he’s passed. (Some folks are saying that at one point it did say that he was dead, others are reporting that the news was subsequently taken down.) Wikipedia is edited by regular folks, it’s not some sort of news outfit, so if none of the editors who are authorized to make changes on Wikipedia pages are close to Ober– and if the MSM hasn’t picked up the story– that won’t change any time soon.

Eddie Brill’s Facebook profile has the news, with, at last count, 26 comments. And now, Brill has “retracted” the original message and given life to yet another rumor– this one about the passing of Kevin Knox. (Which has been confirmed. See our posting below.)

Other Facebook status reports are saying that he was found dead in his apartment.

Ober is pictured below at the Comedy Factory Outlet in Philadelphia, circa 1983. He is center, with Grover Silcox on the right and Dr. Will Miller on the left. (Photo Credit: Brian McKim)

It seems as though a report from American Superstar Magazine stating that Ober was alive was erroneous.