Eddie

Eagle-eyed reader Doug Thomson spotted the paid obituary in Saturday's Los Angeles Times for Edward G. Nalbandian, better known as Eddie in TV commercials for his clothing store Zachary All. The Wilshire Boulevard shop with the made-up name carried everything in sizes "Cadet, Extra Short, Regular, Long, Extra Long and Portlies," or so Eddie promised. Zachary All carpet-bombed the local airwaves with commercials from the 1960s to 1993, at first with Eddie doing the pitches live without cue cards. He became a recognized cult figure in Los Angeles, a friend to celebrities such as Lenny Bruce—they would get coffee at Canter's—and personal tailor to Cary Grant. Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention recorded the homage "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" on their 1972 album, Just Another Band from L.A. Eddie was interviewed in 1994 by the L.A. Business Journal and paid tribute last year on the blog A Fool in the Forest. Hard to believe the Times didn't find him worthy of a news obit. Nalbandian was 78.

Photo: Scanned from LAT obituary