Lulu Roman, ‘Hee Haw’ actress, gospel singer, dead at 78

Lulu Roman, an actress-turned-gospel singer who appeared in the popular television series “Hee Haw,” died on April 23. She was 78.

Roman died in Bellingham, Washington, her son, Damon Roman, told The Hollywood Reporter. She had moved there to be with him seven months ago. No cause of death has been announced.

Roman appeared in the first episode of “Hee Haw” in 1969 and would be featured in 158 episodes of the country music comedy-themed variety show until 1992.

She was booted from the show for more than a year for drug possession but returned in 1973 after the show went into syndication.

“I ended up getting busted not once, but twice, for possession of dangerous drugs. It ended up costing me losing my position on the ‘Hee Haw’ show for a whole year,” Roman said. “In the middle of that, I found out that I was very much with child,” and unwed.

“Hee Haw” was canceled by CBS in 1971, just two years into its run, in what some referred to as a “rural purge.” But it became a hit in syndication.

Bertha Louise Hable was born in a home for unwed mothers on May 6, 1946. She was dropped off at a Baptist facility for orphans in Dallas. A thyroid condition caused her to become overweight and she was never adopted.

In 1964 she made ends meet by performing in a comedy act billed as “Lulu Roman, the World’s Biggest Go-Go Dancer” in nightclubs owned by Jack Ruby.

When country music superstar Buck Owens was about to begin his run on “Hee Haw,” he brought Roman, whom he had befriended, to the attention of the show’s producers.

“They needed one boy next door, one fat dumb man, one fat dumb woman,” Roman said in an interview last year. “Buck said, ‘I got your girl! She’s in Dallas!’”

In addition to “Hee Haw,” Roman’s television credits also included guest appearances on “The Love Boat” and “Touched by an Angel.”

Roman recorded several albums in the Southern gospel genre, winning a Dove Award in 1985 for the song “You Were Loving Me.” She was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

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