David Kaff, the British musician and actor best known for playing keyboardist Viv Savage in This Is Spinal Tap, has died. He was 79.
Kaff’s death was confirmed by his bandmates in the group Mutal of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom. In a note on Facebook, they wrote that Kaff (born Kaffinetti) had “passed away peacefully in his sleep,” adding: “We are devastated by this event. David always had a kind word and a quick wit that would slay you where you stand. Then he’d make you smile doing it!”
As Viv Savage, Kaff had a small part in This Is Spinal Tap, but was capable of tossing off exceptionally silly one-liners. In one scene, where Michael McKean asks Viv if he can play a particular progression on “Big Bottom,” Viv deadpans, “Oh yeah, I’ve got two hands.” Elsewhere, while hanging on the band’s tour bus, playing video games, he marvels, “Quite exciting, this computer magic!”
But easily his most famous line came during the film’s end credits. When asked by Rob Reiner’s Marty DiBergi if he had a philosophy of life, or creed, Viv sagely replies with a grin, “Have a good time, all the time.”
Kaff remained a member of Spinal Tap for a bit after the release of the film in 1984. He joined the band when they appeared on Saturday Night Live that same year, and he later appeared in a joke-y PSA for hearing loss. “Viv Savage of the band Spinal Tap speaks out on hearing loss,” the narrator says in the short clip, prompting Savage to reply, “What?”
Prior to appearing in This Is Spinal Tap, Kaff was part of the English prog rock band Rare Bird, who released five albums between 1969 and 1975. The group scored their biggest hit with their 1969 single, “Sympathy,” which reached Number 27 on the U.K. charts.
Kaff is not slated to appear in the long-awaited sequel to This Is Spinal Tap. The film, titled Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, is set to arrive in theaters Sept. 12.
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