Cactus Pryor, Austin’s original funnyman and a pioneer of local radio and television, died August 30th. He was 88 .
Star of radio, TV, movies, plays and newspaper, Cactus Pryor was a true Texas legend whose remarkable career spanned 60 years. Cactus entertained Presidents and world leaders, but he also used his amazing sense of humor to delight Austin radio and TV audiences with stories of our city that Cactus loved so much.
The cause was complications from a recent fall and Alzheimer’s disease. He fell and broke his leg earlier this month while living at an assisted living facility in Buda. With family around him, Pryor died at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, where he was moved recently.
When Austin got its first local TV broadcast on KTBC in 1951, the folksy humorist was the first face that viewers saw. Until 2008, he did commentaries about Austin haunts and personalities on KLBJ radio, but the station continued rerunning his old commentaries, a tribute to his lasting popularity with listeners. He ended each segment with a distinguishable but puzzling word: “thermerstrockimortimer.” Pryor never revealed what it means.
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