You did it again, E.S.! Harry Anderson it is. Lots of clues left:

I had two children with my first wife. I met my second wife while she was bartending in New Orleans, and together we opened a small shop in the French Quarter.

Later I opened a nightclub where I performed a one-man show. I also appeared in a documentary about the first six months in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

In 2000, I hosted the pilot for a potential revival of the panel game show What's My Line?

In November 2008, I had a cameo appearance on an episode of 30 Rock. In my final years, I appeared in various TV comedy series. My final film appearance was in a 2014 Christian drama.

In late January 2018, I had a bout of influenza, and subsequently suffered several strokes. On April 16, 2018, I died in my sleep in Asheville, North Carolina.

My middle name is Laverne. I am probably best known for my role as a judge in a TV series which ran from 1984–1992.

I was a longtime fan of Mel Tormé, who appeared on my sitcom six times. I was among those who delivered eulogies at the singer's funeral in 1999.

Together with a longtime friend, I wrote a book called Games You Can’t Lose, which also contained a survey of Games You Can't Win, as told from an insider's perspective.

In addition to my acting career, I was also a professional magician.

SIDE NOTE: In 1980, I (Arthur) drove from L.A. to Las Vegas to see some musician friends who were playing in Ann Murray’s band. She was headlining at one of the big casinos (I think it was Caesar’s Palace), and Harry Anderson was her opening act. For one of his tricks, Harry handed a deck of cards to a lady in the front row, and asked her to “mix the deck.” Pretending that she didn’t understand, he repeated his request several times. Finally, acting frustrated, he produced a large plastic ship and an egg beater, and while using those to demonstrate the action, repeated his request for her to “mix the deck.” It was hilarious!

Great Harry Anderson story, Mr. Stead. What a versatile, creative, talented, and bright fellow he was.

New guess who:

I was born in the UK

I have spent much of my life in mass

Particle board would be my favorite building material

We sure could use another clue ...

Richard Feynman

This might be way out of my realm of familiarity.

Not Feynman, $2000magician, but good guess.

A field was named for me

A 2012 collision proved me right

This momentous collision occurred on the Franco-Swiss border

Higgs? (Don't know his first name, but the guy for whom the Higgs boson -- a.k.a. the so-called "God particle" -- was named?)

It's not $2000magician.

It's S2000magician. As in Honda's incredible roadster.

Peter.

P. Higgs (pronounced <figz>, with apologies to Victor Borge).

S2000, you reminded me of this incredible Victor Borge skit, where he does his “phonetic punctuation.” It’s hilarious!

One of my favorite routines of his.

Peter Higgs it is!

Well done Karnak! I was right!

(At least about this being outside of my sphere of knowledge).

No idea who either of those gentlemen are/were, nor what they do/did.

Physicists.

Above average physicists.

I looked them up, Bill, but unfortunately I failed math and science at school.

Even the introductory summaries on Wikipedia -- highlighting some of Mr. Feynman’s and Mr. Higgs’ theories -- were too complicated for me to understand!

I was born in 1955 in Washington DC.

In college, my enthusiasm for science deepened when I took an astronomy class at Cornell University taught by Dr. Carl Sagan.

I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977, and went to work as an engineer -- but in 1978 I also began moonlighting as a stand-up comedian, and by 1986 I'd quit my engineering day job to fully focus upon my burgeoning comedy career.

Steve Martin.

No -- but coincidentally enough, I actually began my moonlighting as a stand-up comic after I won a Steve Martin lookalike contest, and doing Steve Martin impressions at parties!

Jay Leno