The reporter told the Washington Post that he died of complications from muscular dystrophy. “We are saddened to announce the death of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness. In addition to being the most iconic voice in the 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 continue to laugh as loudly as you can in honor of Gilbert,” his family wrote on Twitter. Many people in Hollywood, including comedians Jason Alexander, Dane Cook and others, paid tribute to Gottfried after the shocking news of his death. “Gilbert Gottfried was never funny,” Cook wrote. “He was a great guy, always friendly and made a lot of people happy.” pic.twitter.com/STHhfpVSKU – Gilbert Gottfried (@RealGilbert) April 12, 2022 Gottfried was known for his vulgar humor, political inaccuracy and shrill voice, which helped bring several cartoon characters to life, including Iago the Parrot in Disney’s “Aladdin” and the robotic bird Digit in “Cyberchase”. of PBS Kids and Aflac. duck in ads for the insurance company. Born in Brooklyn, New York on February 28, 1955, he began playing stand-up comedy at the age of 15. Gottfried had a brief 12-episode appearance on “Saturday Night Live” during Season 6 in 1980 and reunited with SNL co-star Eddie Murphy in “Beverly Hills Cop II,” one of his first major film roles. Howard Stern often called Gottfried on his radio show in the 1980s, portraying people like Andrew “Dice” Clay, Groucho Marx and Bela Lugosi as Dracula. By the 1990s, Gottfried had landed roles in films such as “Problem Child,” “Highway to Hell” and “Looks Who’s Talking Too,” before gaining his most recognizable voice role as Iago the parrot in “Aladdin.” 1992. Iago was the embarrassing but funny comedic relief that accompanied the evil Jafar, and Gottfried reprinted the role in two live-action sequels, a television series and the Kingdom Hearts video game. His other important vocal roles were Kraang Subprime in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, Mr. Mxyzptlk in “Superman: The Animated Series”, Dr. Bender and his son Wendell in “The Fairly OddParents”, as well as “SpongeBob Squarepants”, “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” Duckman “,” Disney’s House of Mouse “and countless others. In the 2000s and 2010s, Gottfried became a regular on celebrity roasts and game shows. He has appeared in Comedy Central roasts of Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, David Hasselhoff, Donald Trump and Roseanne Barr, as well as in game shows such as “Hollywood Squares” and “Pyramid”. However, his nervous and vulgar humor got him in trouble many times. Three weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Gottfried joked that he could not take a direct flight from New York to California because “they said they had to stop at the Empire State Building first.” The crowd gasped and disapproved “very soon”, but Gottfried managed to win over the audience and quickly made headlines by telling one of the first 9/11 jokes. More to follow…
