1920–2007 · American character actor · first documented version, 1960
Tige Andrews — born Tiger Androwas in Brooklyn — was an American character actor best remembered as Captain Adam Greer in ABC’s The Mod Squad, a role that brought him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and as Lieutenant Johnny Russo in The Detectives. In September 1960 he gave the columnist Herb Caen the earliest known version of the five-stages joke, using his own name as the punchline. Quote Investigator is careful here: Andrews has chronological precedence, and he and Hugh O’Brian are the leading candidates, but the joke’s actual author is unknown.