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Gilbert Gottfried, actor and comic's comic, dies at 67

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FILE - Gilbert Gottfried performs at the Comedy Central "Roast of Roseanne" in Los Angeles on Aug. 4, 2012. Gottfrieds publicist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said Gottfried, an actor and legendary standup comic known for his abrasive voice and crude jokes, died Tuesday, April 12, 2022. He was 67. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES ā€“ Gilbert Gottfried, the actor and legendary standup comic known for his raw, scorched voice and crude jokes, has died. He was 67.

Gottfried died from a rare genetic muscle disease that can trigger a dangerously abnormal heartbeat, his publicist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said in a statement.

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ā€œIn addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend and father to his two young children. Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbertā€™s honor,ā€ his family said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Gottfried was a fiercely independent and intentionally bizarre comedian's comedian, as likely to clear a room with anti-comedy as he was to kill it with his jokes.

"The first comedian I saw who would go on and all the other comics would go in the room to watch,ā€ standup comic Colin Quinn said on Twitter.

He first came to national attention with frequent appearances on MTV in its early days and with a brief stint in the cast of ā€œSaturday Night Liveā€ in the 1980s.

Gottfried also did frequent voice work for children's television and movies, most famously playing the parrot Iago in Disney's ā€œAladdin.ā€

ā€œLook at me, I'm so ticked off that I'm molting,ā€ a scratchy-voiced Gottfried said early in the film as his character shed feathers.

To a younger generation he's known as the voice of Digit the bird on PBS Kids' ā€œCyberchase.ā€

Gottfried was particularly fond of doing obscure and dated impressions for as long as he could milk them, including Groucho Marx, Bela Lugosi and Andrew ā€œDiceā€ Clay. He would often do those voices as a guest on the Howard Stern show, prompting listeners by the dozens to call in and beg Stern to throw him off.

In his early days at the club the Comedy Store in Hollywood, the managers would have him do his impression of then-little-known Jerry Seinfeld at the end of the night to get rid of lingering patrons.

Gottfried was especially beloved by his fellow comedians and performers.

Jon Stewart said that getting to open for Gottfried was one of the great thrills of his early standup career.

ā€œHe could leave you gasping for breath,ā€ Stewart tweeted, ā€œjust indescribably unusually hilarious.ā€

ā€œI am so sad to read about the passing of Gilbert Gottfried,ā€ actor Marlee Matlin said on Twitter. ā€œFunny, politically incorrect but a softie on the inside. We met many times; he even pranked me on a plane, replacing my interpreter.ā€ (Gottfried bore a close resemblance to Matlin's American Sign Language interpreter Jack Jason.)

Gottfried was interviewed by The Associated Press last month following Will Smithā€™s Oscar night slap of Chris Rock. While he took the attack seriously, saying it might imperil other comedians, he couldnā€™t resist wisecracks.

He said that before on stage, he ā€œjust had to worry about wearing a mask. Now I have to worry about wearing a football helmet.ā€ He later added: ā€œIf Will Smith is reading this, dear God, please donā€™t come to my shows.ā€

The year has already seen the loss of several beloved comedians, including Louie Anderson and Bob Saget.

In January, Gottfried tweeted a picture of the three men together, with the text, ā€œThis photo is very sad now. RIP Bob Saget and RIP Louie Anderson. Both good friends that will be missed.ā€

Gottfried was born in Brooklyn, the son of a hardware store owner and a stay-at-home mom. He began doing amateur standup at age 15.

He thought he was getting his big break when he landed a spot on ā€œSaturday Night Liveā€ alongside Eddie Murphy in 1980. But he was given little to do on the show.

He later said a low point was playing the body in a sketch about a funeral. He would last only 12 episodes.

But he would find his own way, doing bits on MTV and as a both beloved and hated guest on talk shows.

He had roles in ā€œBeverly Hills Cop IIā€ and the ā€œProblem Childā€ films and presented bad movies as host of ā€œUSA Up All Nightā€ from 1989 to 1998.

And he had recurring voice roles on ā€œRen and Stimpy," ā€œThe Fairly OddParentsā€ and several spin-offs of ā€œAladdin.ā€

Gottfried's schtick wasn't always popular. In 2011, Aflac Inc. fired him as the voice of the duck in its commercials over tasteless tweet the comic sent about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Less than a month after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, at the Friars Club Roast of Hugh Hefner, Gottfried made jokes about planes making stops at skyscrapers, and was met with boos and shouts of ā€œToo soon!ā€ He responded with an especially foul version of the comedians' inside joke ā€œThe Aristocrats,ā€ which many in the audience took as a message that he believed it was the comic's job to remain crude at all costs.

ā€œTo me, funny is funny," he told the AP last month. ā€œIā€™ll regret a bit I do that just doesnā€™t get a laugh, because itā€™s not funny or an ad lib that doesnā€™t work. But if it gets a laugh, I feel like, Iā€™m the comedian and thatā€™s my job.ā€

He made many notorious contributions to televised roasts, his harshness and love of old-timey standup style making him a perfect contributor. He took famously cruel and relentless jabs at roastees including Matlin, George Takei and Roseanne.

ā€œLike most monsters she goes by one name," he said at the Roseanne roast in his signature style, leaning into the microphone, hands spread apart, shouting himself hoarse. "And that name is Rozilla.ā€

ā€œI shall miss you, my friend, my sometimes foil, my always pain in my side, usually from the belly laughs," Takei said on Twitter Tuesday. The heavens are a great deal louder with you out there now, Iā€™m sure. Keep ā€™em shaking their heads and smiling, Gilbert.ā€

Gottfried is survived by his wife Dara, sister Karen, 14-year-old daughter Lily and 12-year-old son Max.

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AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton


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