Gilbert Gottfried remembered as 'a brilliant comedian and just the sweetest guy'

Suzy Byrne
·Reporter
·7 min read
6

Gilbert Gottfried, who has died at the age of 67, is being remembered for the many, many laughs he's given the world during his long career.

The gravel-voiced actor and stand-up comedian, who had a short run on Saturday Night Live and appeared in the Problem Child films, died after "a long illness," his family said in a statement on Tuesday. "In addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend and father to his two children. Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbert's honor."

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried arrives with a duck at the Webby Awards in New York June 14, 2010. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT ANIMALS)
Gilbert Gottfried is being remembered as "a brilliant comedian and just the sweetest guy." (Photo: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

The reactions to the death of Gottfried — whose life and career was the subject of a 2017 documentary — came even before the family's official announcement when Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander posted a tribute.

"Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh at times when laughter did not come easily. What a gift," Alexander wrote. "I did not know him well but I loved what he shared with me."

After the official word came from the family, others including Dane Cook reacted. The comedian wrote, "Gilbert Gottfried was never not funny. He was a lovely guy, always friendly & made many people happy."

Jon Stewart said opening for Gottfried at early comedy shows "was one of the great thrills of my early standup life. He could leave you gasping for breath... just indescribably unusually hilarious."

Laraine Newman shared a photo of them on the set of Problem Child 2, calling him, "Dear, sweet, hilarious Gilbert.

She also shared a photo of them together two months ago, borrowing Patton Oswalt's sentiment.

Here was Oswalt's tweet. (He also shared a photo of them together.)

Jennifer Tilly, who worked on Goosed with Gottfried, called him a "brilliant comedian and just the sweetest guy ... Everybody adored him."

Gilbert director Neil Berkeley on his friend "Gil." 

Judd Apatow said "nobody was funnier than @RealGilbert on a roll. He could put you into convulsive hysterics. He was also the sweetest man ... What a terrible loss."

Comedienne Kathy Griffin retweeted a photo Gottfried, who voiced Iago the Parrot in Disney's Aladdin films, posted after the deaths of Louie Anderson and Bob Saget earlier this year — and kept her reaction humorous despite the loss of the trio being anything but.

"Gilbert would be the first one to make a joke about this picture today," she wrote of the three famed comedians who died over the last four months. "The first. And he would not hold back."

Here are some others:

Gottfried started doing stand-up at age 15. He did a season on SNL, but was better known for the shrill voice he adopted for stand-up and voice roles as well as his crude humor. He had movie roles in Problem Child and its sequel as well as Beverly Hills Cop II with SNL castmate Eddie Murphy. He would always liven things up — whether it was being a regular on Hollywood Squares on doing impressions of other comics during visits to the Howard Stern Show. He also voiced the Aflac duck in commercials for a while, and hosted his own podcast, Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast!.

Gottfried married wife Dara in 2007. They have two children together: Lily and Max. Lily has shared a tribute as well.

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