Jay Thomas' Aim: Hit The Meatball

Jay Thomas is a "that guy" — not necessarily a household name, but definitely a recognizable face.

"People see me and they go, 'hey, you're that guy'" he told Judy Faber of The Showbuzz.

He's "that guy" who played the pizza shop owner Remo Da Vinci on "Mork and Mindy," Carla's boyfriend Eddie Le Bec on "Cheers," and tabloid talk show host Jerry Gold on "Murphy Brown" — a role that won him two Emmy awards. He also played the football coach in the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus" and can currently be seen as the Easter Bunny in "Santa Clause 3."

Thomas is also that guy who visits David Letterman every year to try and knock the meatball off the "Late Show" Christmas tree. After the football toss, he sits down with Letterman to tell a wild story about an afternoon he spent years ago doing a store promotion with television's "Lone Ranger," Clayton Moore.

"This will be the third year of telling the Lone Ranger story, and the 10th year of throwing the football," said Thomas.

His annual Christmas visit takes place on "Late Show" Friday night on CBS.

Thomas also has a recognizable voice, known to audiences in Los Angeles and New York from his many years as a radio DJ. He's back on the air, this time as a talk radio host every day from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on a channel called Sirius Stars 102.

"There's an eclectic group of people — then they have me. There's a psychic, a faith healer — then they have me," he laughs.

Thomas says that his interview style is to completely disarm his guests by asking an off-the-wall question.

"There are people that come on talk shows and no one looks at them and goes 'It's kind of weird isn't it, what you're doing?' said Thomas.

He admits that it's not always that much fun for the guest.

"Caroline Kennedy did not have a fun time with me," he said. "She was selling a book of poems that her father used to read her. I said, 'Who'd want to buy that?' It just got her mad."