Gilbert Gottfried, a comedian and film and television actor with a distinctively unforgettable voice, passed away on Tuesday after a lengthy illness, according to his family.
Gottfried was 67 at the time of his death.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness. In 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 Gilbert’s honor,” his family stated on twitter.
Gilbert Gottfried was an American stand-up comedian, actor and voice artist. He is known for his distinctive comedic style, which often relies on making offensive jokes. Gottfried came to prominence in the early 1980s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, including Problem Child (1990), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Look Who’s Talking Too (1990). He also voiced the parrot Iago in Disney’s Aladdin (1992) and co-starred in the Problem Child movies.
Gottfried was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, who were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, emigrated from Poland and Romania. He has three older brothers: Leonard, Bernard and Frederick. At age 15, Gottfried began doing amateur stand-up comedy in New York City and elsewhere. In 1980, Saturday Night Live was being retooled following the departure of several cast members. Producer Jean Doumanian was looking for new talent, and Gottfried’s agent, Gilbert Gottfried is an American stand-up comedian, actor and voice artist. He is known for his distinctive comedic style, which often relies on making offensive jokes. Gottfried came to prominence in the early 1980s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, including Problem Child (1990), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Look Who’s Talking Too (1990). He also voiced the parrot Iago in Disney’s Aladdin (1992) and co-starred in the Problem Child movies.
Producer Jean Doumanian was looking for new talent, and Gottfried’s agent, George Shapiro, suggested that Gottfried audition. Auditioning alongside Robert Downey Jr., Gottfried was selected as one of the new cast members. He was the first and only cast member hired by Doumanian.
Gottfried’s tenure on Saturday Night Live was brief; he was fired after six episodes. He has said that hisSNL experience was “torture”, specifically because of the live audience, which he found to be unresponsive. In a 2015 interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air, Gottfried said: “I don’t know why they put me in front of an audience that had been sitting there all night waiting for the show to start … I did bad jokes and impersonations, and I just bombed”.
Gottfried’s film debut was in the 1982 slasher film Friday the 13th Part III as a nerdy kid who is killed by Jason Voorhees. He has appeared in numerous other films, including Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Problem Child (1990), Problem Child 2 (1991), Look Who’s Talking Too (1990), The Addams Family (1991), and Madea Goes to Jail (2009).
Gottfried has also lent his voice to numerous animated films and television series, such as Disney’s Aladdin (1992) and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018), and the Nickelodeon shows Rugrats (1991-2004) and All Grown Up! (2003-2008).
He played Digit in the children’s 2016 cartoon/educational math-based computer game franchise AniMath, and the p Aprilarrot Iago in Disney’s Aladdin (1992) and its two sequels The Return of Jafar (1994) an Ind Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996). In 1999, Gottfried replaced Norm Macdonald as .the voice of Lucky, the McDonald’s spokes-dog. Gottfried has also hosted various showpodcast shows, including The Gilbert Gottfried Comedy Podcast, which began in 2014.
In 2017, Gottfried became one of the roasters on the roast battle television series Comedy Central Roast Battle.
