Articles - World

Gilbert Gottfried was known as a comedian’s comedian, and as evidence of that look no further than the outpouring of tribute posts reacting to his untimely passing.

Jon Stewart called opening for Gottfried “one of the great thrills of my early stand up life.” He added that Gilbert “could leave you gasping for breath…just indescribably unusually hilarious…Damn.”

“For almost 40 years his spectacular comedy blew me away,” wrote Richard Lewis. “You can’t be funnier.”

“Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh at times when laughter did not come easily,” remarked Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander. “What a gift. I did not know him well but I loved what he shared with me. My best wishes and sympathy to his family.”

Find more tributes to Gottfried from Bill Burr, Al Franken, Judd Apatow, Tom Green, Patton Oswalt, and more below.

RIP Gilbert. Opening for Gilbert Gottfried at Carolines and Princeton Catch was one of the great thrills of my early stand up life. He could leave you gasping for breath…just indescribably unusually hilarious…Damn.

— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) April 12, 2022

Gilbert, I don’t want to believe this. I loved him. I’m heartbroken for his beautiful family. Say it ain’t so. For almost 40 years his spectacular comedy blew me away.
You can’t be funnier. My God, all who experienced him are crushed. Say it ain’t so.🙏♥️ https://t.co/pO3HW36ta7

Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh at times when laughter did not come easily. What a gift. I did not know him well but I loved what he shared with me. My best wishes and sympathy to his family. #ripGilbertGottfried

— jason alexander (@IJasonAlexander) April 12, 2022

I saw Gilbert perform in 1985 and when he entered to applause he said, “Thank you, thank you very much.” He then continued to say “thank you” repeatedly for ten full minutes. It was the nerviest, funniest thing I had seen. So sorry to lose this sweet and delightfully funny man.

— Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien) April 12, 2022

Rest In Peace Gilbert Gottfried! First time I saw him live he did his Jackie Kennedy bit: “Jackie do you remember where you were…” in front of drunk Bruins fans at Nicks. #RIPGilbertGottfried https://t.co/9w0offZEZG

Big loss to the world of comedy. Gilbert Gottfried has left us. Fearless and hilarious!!! A truly lovely man, loved by all in comedy. May his memory be a blessing to his family, his friends & all he made laugh!

— Al Franken (@alfranken) April 12, 2022

Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh so hard that day on set, I could barely do my job. A wholly original comic, and an equally kind and humble guy behind the scenes. He will be missed. https://t.co/93cKB6KEg8

— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) April 12, 2022

Take some time today and watch the documentary about Gilbert Gottfried. Gilbert Trailer I Documentary https://t.co/dXDrx6QWSO via @YouTube it’s on @PlutoTV

Sad to hear of the passing of the groundbreaking and legendary Gilbert Gottfried. Here was the last time I saw you in Miami. My condolences to the family and friends of this genius comic, artist, and provocateur. Comedy mourns tonight. #comedy 🙏 🙏 🙏 pic.twitter.com/F3oIp81lmy

— Tom Green (@tomgreenlive) April 12, 2022

I am so sad to read about the passing of Gilbert Gottfried. Funny, politically incorrect but a softie on the inside. We met many times; he even pranked me on a plane, replacing my intepreter @655jack(they’re like twins). Sending love to Dara & his children. RIP #gilbertgottfried pic.twitter.com/R4mxWBRsNo

Gilbert would be the first one to make a joke about this picture today. The first. And he would not hold back. https://t.co/B8hszsDGcI

— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 12, 2022

Sending love to @RealGilbert’s wife Dara, his family & fans. Gilbert Gottfried was never not funny. He was a lovely guy, always friendly & made many people happy.

— Dane Cook (@DaneCook) April 12, 2022

Just a super nice person. With a scathing wit. And I was always honored when he aimed that wit at me. He was both new school & old school at the same time. Rest In Peace Gilbert Gottfried. https://t.co/AcAn8K5l0L

My all-time favorite Gilbert Gottfried bit.
Rest in peace, you iconic weirdo 💚 pic.twitter.com/RoNFZGwp6C

— Brent Black (@brentalfloss) April 12, 2022

Ricky Gervais has appeared to respond to Will Smith hitting Chris Rock in the face during the 2022 Oscars.

During Sunday (27 March) night’s ceremony, Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, while he was presenting an award.

“Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” Rock said, seemingly in reference to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.

Last year, Pinkett Smith announced she had shaved her head after being diagnosed with alopecia.

On Monday (28 March), Gervais retweeted a video shared by the official David Brent account.

The clip, taken from an episode of The Office, showed his character saying: “Particularly for his wife. And she’s got alopecia. So… not a happy homelife.”

The clip has since been retweeted more than 3,000 times.

Gervais famously hosted the Golden Globes five times, during which he became known for roasting celebrities to their faces.

As the action at the Oscars unfolded on screen, Gervais answered a series of tweets from fans about how he would have opened the show, had he been presenting.

“I’d start with ‘Hello. I hope this show helps cheer up the ordinary people watching at home. If you’re unemployed for example, take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn’t be as much as the goody bag all the actors have just been given,’” he tweeted.

“‘I’m proud to announce that this is the most diverse and progressive Oscars ever. Looking out I see people from all walks of life. Every demographic under the sun. Except poor people, obviously. F*** them.’”

Asked what he would finish with, the comedian replied: “My career.”

Find the full list of 2022 Oscar winners here. See the latest updates and reactions from the dramatic ceremony here, and read about the biggest talking points here.

At the end of the second season M*A*S*H episode “Radar’s Report,” Gary Burghoff paints a smile on Radar O’Reilly’s face as only he can do.

Six years earlier, Burghoff had perfected the art of the small hopeful smile while playing one of the most wholesome characters on Broadway: Charlie Brown.

“Gary Burghoff, who plays Charlie, has that perfect knack of starting a tiny, hopeful little smile only to have it fade into self-dismay after some nasty crack from Lucy,” reported The Janesville Daily Gazette in 1967.

That year, many theater critics declared Burghoff a “good man” for gripping audiences with such good-natured material as Peanuts.

Burghoff’s version of Charlie Brown smashed Hollywood stage records, selling out every show and shocking everyone by selling $87,000 in advance ticket sales.

Nobody could’ve predicted the success, but winning life with a small smile has remained Burghoff’s style.

Burghoff is one of those enigmas, someone who seems to be talented at everything he tries. There’s seemingly nothing this multifaceted man cannot do.

Before Broadway, he was touring all the major nightclubs as the drummer holding down a celebrated jazz trio. After Broadway, he portrayed Radar in both the movie MASH and then the TV show M*A*S*H, leading Burghoff to soon win an Emmy for his talent as an actor.

Although it was a huge shock when Burghoff left M*A*S*H in its eighth season, Burghoff had discovered that he no longer wished to continue doing anything that wasn’t what he truly wished to be doing. And he felt he’d done all he could with Radar’s character.

He decided to leave behind his famous character, mostly because he truly felt that by putting off the other things he wanted to do beyond Radar, he was literally putting off living his own life.

So, he left M*A*S*H, and he went home to live near his family in Connecticut, where he took up painting.

In this craft, he excelled again, selling paintings of animals in each state that had come back from being endangered. The paintings would sell for as much as $25,000, and when he made limited edition prints, those would fetch anywhere from $200 to $800 a pop.

During this time, Burghoff also raised his kids and made more music, composing more than 100 songs and winning recording industry awards for three of his best tunes.

As a painter, he caught just as many eyes for his work, and he told The Palladium Item in 1999 that his goal in painting wildlife was to show the world that setbacks were temporary and comebacks were real.

“I am hoping to make the statement we can overcome,” Burghoff said.

Burghoff could surely relate to this, as an actor who used to dream of winning an Academy Award, but who later decided his family life was more important to him than celebrity or critical acclaim.

Dreams change, and Burghoff knew it just took adjusting to follow the heart’s new desire to ensure he continued living his life to the fullest.

But that didn’t mean Burghoff was done with acting for good.

“When I turned 50, the phone stopped ringing,” Burghoff told The Leader-Telegram in 2003. “How do you cast a 50-year-old Radar? Now slowly they’re beginning to say, ‘Gary Burghoff has surpassed Radar. We know that he has a range. Let’s cast him in character roles.'”

Burghoff continued acting through the mid-1990s, with one final appearance in a 2010 movie where he played a local pastor who inspires a man who is down on his luck.

It’s a fitting final role for Burghoff if it ends up being his last, because the man was seemingly made of inspiration and refused to let luck factor into his life — pushing himself to become a talented painter, musician, and actor, as well as a devoted family man.

He seemingly was too busy living life to the fullest to ever view one thing ending as anything but something else beginning.

In 1968, Burghoff imparted to The Los Angeles Citizen News a bit of wisdom that shows from the start of his acting career, he had already decided to make the best of whatever might come, practically embodying the small hopeful smile he charmed us with so often onstage and onscreen.

“We can’t all get a Valentine every day, but we learn to accept it as we learn to accept all phases of life — the good and the bad,” Burghoff said. “Happiness is two kinds of ice cream.”

Weeknights at 6 PM