In an Instagram post, Gottfried’s family confirmed his death “after a long illness”, without giving further details.
“Apart from 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 out loud. is done in honor of Gilbert “, wrote his family.
Gottfried’s journalist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said in a statement that Gottfried died of recurrent ventricular tachycardia due to myotonic dystrophy type II, a disorder that affects the heart.
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– @ RealGilbert
Gottfried was a tough independent and deliberately bizarre comedian, both likely to clean up a room with anti-comedy and kill with his jokes.
He first came to national attention with frequent appearances on MTV in his early days and a brief appearance on the Saturday Night Live cast in the 1980s.
Gottfried also often did vocal work for children’s television and movies, most notably the parrot Iago in Disney’s Aladdin.
Gottfried, right, with fellow comedian and actor Bob Sagget at a comedy event in New York on December 5, 2017. (Monica Schipper / Getty Images for the Scleroderma Research Foundation)
“Gilbert’s humor was brazen, shocking and often offensive, but the man behind the jokes was anything but,” said Gottfried’s friend and podcast co-host Frank Santopadre.
“Those who loved him and had the good fortune to share his trajectory knew a person who was sweet, sensitive, surprisingly shy and full of a childlike sense of play and admiration.”
