Dom DeLuise was popular character actor
Published 10:13 pm Tuesday, May 5, 2009
LOS ANGELES — Dom DeLuise, the portly actor-comedian whose affable nature made him an in-demand character actor for decades with movie and TV audiences as well as directors and fellow actors, died Monday night. He was 75.
The comedian, and chef later in life, died in his sleep after a long illness, son Michael DeLuise told radio station KNX on Tuesday.
Writer-director-actor Mel Brooks particularly admired DeLuise’s talent for offbeat comedy and cast him in several of his films, including “The Twelve Chairs,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Silent Movie,” “History of the World Part I” and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” DeLuise was also the voice of Pizza the Hutt in Brooks’ “Star Wars” parody, “Spaceballs.”
The actor also appeared frequently in films opposite his friend Burt Reynolds. Among them, “The End,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Smokey and the Bandit II,” “The Cannonball Run” and “Cannonball Run II.”
Actor-friend Dean Martin admired his comic abilities so much that he cast DeLuise as a regular on his 1960s comedy-variety show.
“To know Dom was to love him and I knew him very well. Not only was he talented and extremely funny, but he was a very special human being,” said actress Carol Burnett, who starred with DeLuise on TV show “The Entertainers” in the ’60s. DeLuise also appeared on “The Carol Burnett Show” in the ’70s.
Other TV credits included appearances on such shows as “The Munsters,” “The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.,” “Burke’s Law,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Diagnosis Murder.”
On Broadway, DeLuise appeared in Neil Simon’s “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” and other plays.
His love of food resulted in two successful cookbooks, 1988’s “Eat This — It Will Make You Feel Better!” and 1997’s “Eat This Too! It’ll Also Make You Feel Good.”
