Lulu Roman, a gospel singer who starred in the variety shows Hee Haw and Hee Haw Honeys, has passed away. She was 78.
Roman’s son confirmed her passing to The Hollywood Reporter. She passed away Wednesday (April 23) in Bellingham, Washington. A cause of death has not been determined.
Born Bertha Louise Hable in Dallas, Texas, Roman began her career in television when her good friend, country music star Buck Owens, suggested her to the producers of Hee Haw where she went on to land a regular role.
“They needed one boy next door, one fat dumb man, one fat dumb woman,” Roman said in a 2024 interview. “Buck said, ‘I got your girl! She’s in Dallas!’”
Roman starred in several popular skits but was later kicked off the show when she was arrested for drug possession in 1971, per THR. She was later hired back in 1973. By then, she had converted to Christianity and began performing gospel music on the show.
“After I gave my heart to Jesus, the Lord started working on me and making me into quite a different person than when I started,” she recalled.
Roman later went on to star in the spinoff series Hee Haw Honeys alongside Misty Rowe and Kathie Lee Gifford.
Rowe shared a tribute for the late singer and comedian.
“We were as different as night and day,” she said, per THR. “Working together since 1972, we were the original Hee Haw Honeys and the original Kornfield Friends. Yet we would often squabble and then make up by saying, ‘I love you, Lu,’ and she would say, ‘I love you too, Sugar.’”
Rowe’s statement continued, “Lulu was a gift in my life. She played my mother twice and yet she was just 3 years older than me. We were Gossipy Girls and now Lulu is my angel in heaven. I thank God for her time here on Earth, and I know we will all see her again in that big Kornfield in the sky someday.”
Roman also made a handful of television appearances in The Love Boat, Gaither’s Pond, and Touched by an Angel. Her final credited role was in the 2014 TV movie Whipoorwhill Nest.
The actress and stand-up comedian was also a celebrated gospel singer who went on to release over a dozen albums. She received the Dove Award in 1985 and was later inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
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