Garry Shandling, one of the most influential comedians of the ’80s and ’90s, has died at the age of sixty-six. Shandling, who was known to be somewhat private, was not said to be in poor health, but according to an LAPD report, he collapsed suddenly of what is being presumed to be a heart attack.
Most well-known as Larry Sanders of The Larry Sanders Show, Shandling made his name in late night before he decided to portray it full-time. Towards the end of Johnny Carson’s tenure as host of The Tonight Show, Shandling was a frequent guest-host, so much so that he was considered a frontrunner to take over when Carson stepped down.
Instead, though, he went down a different-but-related route, developing two groundbreaking series: It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Larry Sanders Show. The former was a fourth-wall-breaking autobiographical show about Garry the comedian, and the latter an experimental take on the late night world.
In more recent years, Shandling had retreated to a degree, but was still appearing briefly in projects, as those who know Zoolander can attest. He also was an active presence online right up until the last few days, and was in no way out of practice in making people laugh.
You can watch a clip from The Larry Sanders Show below.
(via The New York Times)
