RIP, Murray Gershenz, the Old Guy Getting His Balls Checked in The Hangover

The world lost another memorable character actor this week in Murray Gershenz, the 91-year-old best known as the guy getting his balls checked by Matt Walsh in The Hangover, who died yesterday of a heart attack. His family can take solace in the fact that he at least lived long enough for his face to perfectly match his name.

Murray didn’t begin his acting career until the age of 80, but he had since accumulated an impressive body of work … including movie roles in “The Hangover,” and “I Love You Man” … and TV roles on “Parks and Recreation,” “Will & Grace,” “Mad Men,” “Modern Family,” and a bunch of sketches on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Up until his death, Murray’s rep says the actor was in stellar shape.

The actor is survived by his 3 children, his 2 grandchildren, and his 2 great grandchildren. [TMZ]

According to IMDB, his body of work included roles as diverse as “Elderly Man,” “Elderly Neighbor,” “Maurice,” “Mel Stein,” and “Murray Edelstein.”

In 2011, Gerzhenz, a former opera singer and synagogue cantor, was the subject of a documentary short called “Music Man Murray,” detailing his attempt to sell his collection of more than 300,000 rare records, including original Edison cylinder recordings. Some say the collection was worth as much as $1.5 million.

[Music Man Murray deleted scene with Sarah Silverman. You can watch the whole thing here.]

I’ll be honest, I started writing this post basically as a joke, but then I started watching the videos and got a little teary-eyed. I’m mostly indifferent to feelings, but anything about dogs or goofy old men hits me right in the soft parts. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

Anyway, RIP, Murray. His death is yet another sad reminder that at one point, The Hangover was actually funny.

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