As an actor, Jay Thomas had a great deal of success in the late 80s and early 90s. He landed the recurring role of Eddie Lebec on Cheers from 1987, who was the husband of Rhea Perlman's Carla until he was run over by a Zamboni and killed. He also appeared several times on Murphy Brown as Jerry Gold. He would go on to win an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in both 1990 and 1991 for his work on Murphy Brown. Thomas also appeared on Mork & Mindy and starred on Love & War.