Dom DeLuise, the portly entertainer and chef whose affable nature made him a popular character actor for decades with movie and TV audiences as well as directors and fellow actors, has died. He was 75.
DeLuise died Monday evening at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said his agent, Robert Malcolm. The family did not release the cause of death.
DeLuise appeared in scores of movies and TV shows, in Broadway plays and voicing characters for numerous cartoons. Writer-director-actor Mel Brooks particularly admired DeLuise's talent for offbeat comedy and cast him in several films, including "The Twelve Chairs," "Blazing Saddles," "Silent Movie," "History of the World Part I" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights."
His TV credits included appearances on such shows as "The Munsters," "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.," "Burke's Law," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Diagnosis Murder." On Broadway, DeLuise appeared in Neil Simon's "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and other plays.
In part because of his passion for food, the actor battled obesity, reaching as much as 325 pounds and for years resisting family members and doctors who tried to put him on various diets. He finally agreed in 1993 when his doctor refused to perform hip replacement surgery until he lost 100 pounds (he lost enough weight for the surgery, though gained some of it back).
His love of food also resulted in two successful cookbooks, 1988's "Eat This — It Will Make You Feel Better!" and 1997's "Eat This Too! It'll Also Make You Feel Good."
6 comments:
His masked character in Cannonball Run might have been the apex of his career. RIP DD.
BEP
Thank you Mr. Moderator for posting. Personally, DD's part in Smokey & the Bandit won me over. He might not actually be from Wapella, but something tells me he loved slowly cooked cuts of meat.
AW
AW - 10-4 on the slow cooked meat. I believe he was in Smokey/Bandit 2 and of course Cannonball Run. (Always had babes close by) RJT
He was probably the only comedian/cookbook author to be mentioned in a Pete Townshend song...."After The Fire."
He was one of the nicest people I have ever met.
He asked me at least 20 questions about the differences between NYC and Central Illinois.
So, he actually heard stories about Wapella, and was fascinated by it for some reason.
TT
The end of Blazing Saddles topped all!
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