Comedians You Might Not Know Died

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It's always a major bummer when a beloved comedy figure shuffles off this mortal coil and moves on to their next gig at the cosmic comedy club. Those gifted folks who are skilled in the dispensing of much-needed yuks are crucial interpreters and observers of our often tragic and unpredictable world. Their comedic insights are joyful and healing, even in their most edgy and vulgar forms. So it always feels extra painful when we know we'll never again enjoy a hilarious character or dirty joke from one of our favorite comedians.

It's especially difficult when one has grown up enjoying a particular comedian, it's a shared experience that makes life just a little bit more bearable for us all. Let's face it, the planet has lost some good ones in recent years, brilliant and unique performers who deserve praise and recognition for sharing their gifts with us while they were here. There may have been a few deaths in the comedy world you might've missed, so let's take a look at some of these funny folks and have a few laughs while remembering them.

Gilbert Gottfried's abrasive, idiosyncratic voice and his often deliberately offensive jokes made him a beloved performer in the comedy world. A Brooklyn-born kid obsessed with television, Gottfried told Brooklyn Paper he started his comedy career as a child, attending open-mic nights at the famous nightclub The Bitter End. Years of stand-up performing led Gottfried to "Saturday Night Live" in 1980 for a 12-episode stint. Gottfried hated being on "SNL," and although he wasn't ready to be a late-night player, he became an in-demand character and voice actor in Hollywood. Some of Gottfried's notable loud-mouth characters included child-hating adoption agent Igor Peabody in the "Problem Child" movies and squawking parrot Iago in Disney's "Aladdin" and its myriad sequels.

Gottfried might have kept it family-friendly at the movies, but his comedy routines, as The New York Times reports, was a combination of shtick and crude humor. Said comedian Jeff Ross of Gottfried's legendary version of the filthy joke The Aristocrats, "It was probably one of the best single tellings of a joke I've ever heard." Celebrated as a comedian's comedian, Gottfried went where other performers dared not, and sometimes faced consequences. His offensive tweets after the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami got him fired from his gig as the Alfac Duck. When Gottfried died in 2022 at the age of 67 from muscular dystrophy, the comedy world mourned. Remembering Gottfried, actor Susie Essman told Vulture, "He had the great gift of being able to make people laugh, because that was his genius."

Stand-up comedian Ralphie May may have found a new level of fame coming in second place on the first season of "Last Comic Standing," but before reality TV, he had already been sharpening his skills on the comedy circuit for quite a while. The New York Times reports May got his start in comedy as a teen, finding a mentor in rule-breaking comedian Sam Kinison. May worked the comedy circuit for years and even showed off his promising acting skills in the 2002 movie "For da Love of Money." But May mostly kept to stand-up, touring the country and filming a number of Comedy Central specials including "Ralphie May: Girth of a Nation" and "Ralphie May: Austin-tatious." He also released the stand-up specials "Ralphie May: Imperfectly Yours" and "Ralphie May: Unruly" on Netflix.

Ralphie May was in the prime of his career when he died in 2017 at the age of 45 from cardiac arrest. He was beloved by fellow comedians like Kevin Hart, who tweeted "[May] was a good dude," and Jim Gaffigan, who shared his own feelings: "Sweet guy. He loved doing stand-up and loved comedians" (per The Hollywood Reporter). May's memoir, "This Might Get a Little Heavy," was released posthumously, completed just several months after his death.

Gilda Radner's tragically brief life left an indelible mark on the comedy world, inspiring generations of comedians to be their authentically funny selves. She made her auspicious acting debut in the now-legendary 1972 Toronto production of "Godspell." She gained instant fame as a member of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975, staying with the show until 1980. Her characters like "Weekend Update" stalwarts Roseanne Rosannadanna and Emily Litella, "nerd" Lisa Loopner, and most imaginative child Judy Miller made her one of "SNL's" MVPs. Fellow "SNL" alum Tina Fey said of Radner's time on the show, "We all saw that and said, 'I want to do that. And it's possible because I see her doing that'" (per Vanity Fair).

Radner's talents were not relegated to late-night television. She starred in her own one-woman Broadway show which was released as the documentary film "Gilda Live" in 1980. After "SNL," Radner's film career never really took off, but she met her husband Gene Wilder on the set of 1982's "Hanky Panky." They worked together on the Wilder-directed films "The Woman in Red" and "Haunted Honeymoon." In 1986, Radner was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer, and she chronicled her health in her memoir, "It's Always Something." Radner died in 1989 at the age of 42. Not only did Radner leave a lasting comedic legacy, but she also increased ovarian cancer awareness, as The Guardian reports, with Wilder establishing the Gilda Radner Hereditary Cancer Program to better understand cancer risk.

Football quarterback, disc jockey, and comedian Jay Thomas had a hot TV career in the '80s and '90s, with stints on classic sitcoms like "Cheers" and "Murphy Brown." On "Cheers," Thomas played the recurring role of Carla Tortelli's (Rhea Perlman) husband Eddie LeBec, but it was far from wedded bliss behind the scenes. Decider reports that according to "Cheers" writer Ken Levine, Thomas' disgust at kissing Perlman led to his dismissal from the show. Thomas' career recovered quickly when he landed a gig on "Murphy Brown" as talk show host Jerry Gold, winning back-to-back Emmys for the part.

Thomas' success on "Murphy Brown" led to him starring in another Diane English-created sitcom for CBS. Called "Love and War," Thomas co-starred with Annie Potts as an on-again, off-again New York City couple. "Love and War" aired for three seasons, ending its run in 1995. Throughout his life, Thomas stayed close to his broadcasting roots, hosting "The Jay Thomas Show on SiriusXM." He influenced people like radio legend Howard Stern, who said "Jay was a big inspiration to me," adding, "He was naturally funny" (per Howard Stern). Thomas also flexed his storytelling chops every holiday season as a guest on "The Late Show with David Letterman" to share his famous "Lone Ranger" story from his radio days and to toss a football or two. When Thomas died from cancer in 2017 at age 69, Letterman told The Wrap, "His Lone Ranger story was the best I heard in 30 years."

Terry Jones, member of legendary comedy troupe Monty Python, was raucously silly and brazenly intellectual. Dubbed "an absolute titan of British comedy" by the BBC, Jones started his comedic career at that most British of institutions, Oxford University, where he met and started working with future Python member Michael Palin. Eventually, Jones and Palin combined forces with fellow comedians John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, and American animator Terry Gilliam to make "Monty Python's Flying Circus." Their subversive take on British culture was a hit and spawned several classic movies. Jones co-directed 1975's "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" with Gilliam, and solo directed "Monty Python's Life of Brian" in 1979, and "Monty Python and the Meaning of Life" in 1983.

Outside of his work with Monty Python, Jones was passionate about history. A medieval scholar, he wrote the book "Chaucer's Knight" in 1980, and wrote and starred in the 2004 documentary series "Medieval Lives." He also published several children's books, including "The Saga of Erik the Viking," the basis of his 1989 film "Erik the Viking." Late in life, Jones faced a series of health issues, including bowel cancer in 2006. Ever the humorist, The New York Times reports that Jones used his diagnosis to create educational health videos. Ultimately, Jones died not from cancer but from, as his agent confirmed to the Associated Press, "a long, extremely brave but always good humored battle with a rare form of dementia" in 2020 at age 77.

Harry Anderson starred on the NBC sitcom "Night Court" as Judge Harry Stone for nine zany seasons. A public official who moonlighted as a magician, Stone presided over his gallery of misfit legal eagles while working the night division of a New York City municipal court. Equal parts comedian and magician, Stone was the perfect role for Anderson to showcase his many talents. Before taking the bench on "Night Court," Anderson popped up on "Saturday Night Live" and scored a role on "Cheers" as fedora-wearing conman Harry "The Hat" Gittes. After "Night Court" held its last session in 1992, Anderson moved on to star in another sitcom, "Dave's World," based on the writings of humor columnist Dave Berry.

Save for the occasional cameo in shows like "30 Rock," Anderson left Hollywood in 2000, moving to New Orleans with his wife and opening a nightclub, Oswald's Speakeasy. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Anderson held community meetings at his club, with The New York Times reporting that many locals credited him with jumpstarting recovery efforts of the city's French Quarter. He eventually moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where he died in 2018 at the age of 65 after a stroke brought on by the flu and heart disease (per TMZ). Anderson was much loved, leaving an impression on those he encountered, including a young Judd Apatow, who interviewed him as a 15-year-old. Apatow tweeted, "He was a one-of-a-kind talent who made millions so happy."

Heralded by fellow comedians like Dennis Leary as "one of the funniest men who walked this earth" and Donald Glover as "one of the funniest and smartest comedians ever" (per CBS News), Patrice O'Neal did comedy his way. His death at the age of 41 in 2011 from complications from a stroke cut short the life of a talent who was both, as The New York Times noted, boisterous and controversial. Billed as "The comedian comedians were afraid of" in a posthumous profile in New York Magazine, O'Neal didn't concern himself with showbusiness niceties, his behavior reportedly sabotaging opportunities with Chris Rock, Spike Lee, and his recurring role on the NBC smash-comedy "The Office."

O'Neal's attitude didn't preclude him from getting plenty of television work. He starred in a slew of half-hour comedy specials for heavy-hitters like Showtime and HBO, and he was a featured comedian in several Comedy Central roasts. O'Neal also was a pop-culture talking head on VH1's nostalgic "I Love ..." series, and he hosted the network's internet humor series "Web Junk 20." O'Neal's legacy was honored with the documentary "Patrice O'Neal: Killing Is Easy," interviewing family and friends about what filmmakers hailed as a bright yet imperfect career.