Veatrice Rice of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Passes Away

Veatrice Rice, who was the 60-ish, African-American, female security guard and regular cast member on the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show, has passed away. A tearful Jimmy Kimmel made the announcement on his show on Thursday, February 22, 2009. Although the cause of death was not given, Jimmy mentioned her passing, and then showed clips from some of her best segments including "Black Madonna" adopting a white baby and "Sarah Palin" saying "you betcha." At the end of the clips, her photograph was shown with the legend "Veatrice Rice, 1949 - 2009."

One website, seriouslyomg.com reported she lost her battle with cancer and passed away from the disease yesterday and that donations could be made in her honor to The American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or the Paralyzed Veterans of America at www.pva.org .

Not much is known about Veatrice Rice. According to the ABC website, Veatrice was a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky and had been married six years to her husband, John. A Google search reveals several clips of Veatrice on the Kimmel show as well as from the "Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the ACADEMY AWARDS" party. The post-Oscar celebration was broadcast live from the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Hollywood with Guillermo Rodriguez, Veatrice Rice, and Uncle Frank Potenza.

The ABC website provides some details in her bio: "Stationed in front of the musical guest dressing room, Veatrice (aka "Miss V") exudes the cool calm of indifferent disgust that comes with three years on a low-paying security job...Despite her quiet nature, Veatrice has emerged as one of JKL's top security guards and on-air personalities. Her fans around the world agree that "Miss V" is here to stay!"

Jemmy Kimmel had a penchant for taking his security guards (and family) and putting them in nightly skits on the show. Veatrice often appeared in skits with "Uncle Frank" and Guillermo as well as with the "Land O' Lakes Butter lady." Of the three security guards, she was usually portrayed as the grumpy, taciturn one with the filthy mouth. Most of the skits with Uncle Frank and Guillermo revolved around Uncle Frank and Guillermo talking with no clue about a variety of topics while Veatrice glared at them. The skits almost always ended with her cursing at Uncle Frank for saying something stupid.

People seemed shocked with the news of her passing as twitters and tweets were already showing up on Google asking, "Did Veatrice really die?" The Jimmy Kimmel Life Forums were all abuzz with the news and with questions about her death.

Veatrice had appeared on the show very recently and no news had been announced about her being ill. At the time this article was written, there has been no announcement of the cause of death other than seriouslyomg.com which mentioned the cause of death as cancer. No notice appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live website as of January 22.

Even though she had a filthy mouth, she seemed to be a beloved part of the cast, and I am sure they will all miss her as well regular viewers of the show. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. Details should be coming soon about the circumstance of her passing.

Rest in peace, Veatrice Rice.

SOURCES:

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Telecast January 22, 2009

Seriouslyomg.com

Jimmy Kimmel Live Website

Jimmy Kimmel Life Forums

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live Bios