Vale: Dom DeLuise
Comic film actor Dom DeLuise, who made many early television variety appearances, has died aged 75.
- Published by David Knox
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Actor Dom DeLuise, the comic actor who he often teamed with director Mel Brooks and actor Burt Reynolds, has died following high blood pressure and diabetes, a family spokesman said. He was 75.
Best known for the Mel Brooks’ films Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World: Part I, Spaceballs, Smokey and the Bandit II, Cannonball Run, it was his frequent television appearances in the 1960s and 1970s that helped propel a career into films.
DeLuise had a broad, slapstick style of physical humor that was derived largely from his idol, Jackie Gleason. He was a master improviser of throwaway lines, gestures and bug-eyed looks of surprise delivered with casually perfect timing.
His early television appearances included The Garry Moore Show, variety shows alongside Carol Burnett and Ruth Buzzi. He was the host of Candid Camera and was a frequent guest host of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. He also appeared on The Muppet Show, 21 Jump Street, seaQuest DSV, and Third Rock from the Sun.
He also appeared with Gene Wilder in several films, including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother and voiced several roles in animated films.
Source: The Washington Post
8 Responses
R.I.P. The voice of Tiger from An American Tail
i remember his voice of a cat from an american tail. a good actor who had wanted to make people laugh without being too crude
god he used to make me laugh he was so funny. Will be missed big time
DeLuise died in his sleep on May 4, 2009 at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He was hospitalized at the time, suffering from kidney failure and respiratory problems following a long battle with cancer
e will be sadly Missed
RIP Ugro…Captain Kaos!
The end credits/Outtakes of Cannonball Run with Dom and Burt were a riot!
Oh come on, everyone is forgetting is fantastic performance in Stargate – SG1.
Great comic actor, even if some of his choices in roles were less than great. His appearance on seaQuest even had him acting with his son Michael – with 24’s Leslie Hope as his wife! And I’ll always remember him for Pizza The Hut!
It sucks to lose another great actor… I was wondering though, where did you get high blood pressure and diabetes? Everywhere I looked it said of an undisclosed illness…