Thursday, October 23, 2003
New York Daily News - Daily Dish & Gossip - TV's 'Rerun' dead at 52 
The past few years, he had been doing comedy at his club and played himself in an episode of NBC's "Scrubs." He also played himself in the David Spade comedy "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star."
Berry was 25 and a member of the pioneering break dance troupe the Lockers when "What's Happening!" cast him as the red beret-wearing, suspender-clad high schooler Rerun. After the 1976-79 series, Berry briefly reprised the role in the '80s.
Berry, who in recent years was 100 pounds lighter than in his prime-time heyday, said life after Rerun was a struggle.
"The stress of success got to me. The fat jokes got to me. And I got heavily into drugs and alcohol. I was empty inside," he told an interviewer in 1996.
Leo Standora
I used to watch that show. Even as a kid I thought something was a bit off - one of the worst acted shows on TV. But "Rerun" was the stand-out and the comic-relief, and the show was enjoyable. The whole cast belongs on some version of "where are they now?" In fact, they appeared on a couple. The article here makes Fred's life after the show sound pretty sorry, which is too bad, as I had thought he seemed to be doing pretty well, with his own acting school - certainly no sorry case.
Farewell, Rerun. It was fun.
