The Heartbreaking Death Of Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried, the quirky comedian with the infectious smile and boisterous voice, passed away on April 12, 2022, his family announced on Twitter. He was 67 years old.
"We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness," the tweet read. "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. Love, the Gottfried family." Glenn Schwartz, a representative for the late comic, explained the cause of death to People, detailing that the comedian suffered from "Recurrent Ventricular Tachycardia due to Myotonic Dystrophy type II."
It was just a few months ago when Gottfried tweeted a photo of himself with two late comedians, Bob Saget and Louie Anderson, soon after Saget's sudden January 9 death. "This photo is very sad now. RIP Bob Saget and RIP Louie Anderson. Both good friends that will be missed," he wrote at the time.
Gottfried had a successful comedy and voice career
Gilbert Gottfried was born on February 28, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York and got his start thanks to the stand-up comedy circuit in New York City clubs (via Famous Birthdays). In the 1980s, he began landing television roles and had memorable appearances on two of Bill Cosby's primetime sitcoms, "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World." He also had a role during that era in the hit Eddie Murphy film, "Beverly Hills Cop II".
In 1992, Gottfried landed a role that would travel with him for years as he voiced the parrot Iago in the Disney movie "Aladdin" and its subsequent sequels, spin-off animated series, and video games. Gottfried remained a working comedian throughout his life and from 2017 to 2019, he played a parody version of former president Donald Trump's son-in-law on the late night talk show "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" (via IMDb).
Gottfried is survived by his wife since 2007, Dara, as well as their two young children, Lily, 14, and Max, 12, according to People.