Gilbert Gottfriedactor and comedian, master of irreverent humor and political incorrectness, He passed away on Tuesday at the age of 67.
The artist, famous on the big screen for giving voice to Iago the parrot in ‘Aladdin’ and for appearing in comedic roles in films such as ‘This boy is a demon’ and ‘Hollywood Super Detective II’, had been battling myotonic dystrophy for several years type 2, a form of muscular dystrophy.
His family communicated the news through his official Twitter account:
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness. In addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend, and father to his two young children. Even though today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as hard as you can in honor of Gilbert.”
Gottfried was born in Brooklyn on February 28, 1955 and began doing monologues when he was just 15 years old. He participated in the most prolific quarry of comedians on American television, the program ‘Saturday night Live‘, during its sixth season in 1980, and had one of his first film roles with fellow showman Eddie Murphy in ‘Hollywood Super Detective II‘.
In 1990 he chained roles in ‘Highway to Hell’, ‘The Adventures of Ford Fairlane’, ‘Look Who’s Talking Too’ and ‘This Boy is a Devil‘, gaining popularity among the general public and becoming the voice of Iago parrot in the Disney movie ‘Aladdin‘ from 1992. Iago was a talkative bird assistant to the main villain Jafar, and Gottfried reprized his role in two direct-to-video sequels, a television series, and in the ‘Kingdom Hearts’ video games.
Gottfried gained notoriety as one of the most brazen and crude comedians, participating in several celebrity roasts on Comedy Central, and being censored on numerous occasions. He was one of the first to do 9/11 comedy on national television.and his jokes about masturbation at the 1991 Emmys were removed from the show’s delayed broadcast. He lost his job in 2011 as the voice of Aflac Duckan insurance company mascot, tweeting numerous jokes about the Japanese tsunami.
Hollywood stars like Mark Hamill, Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt, George Takei, Judd Apatow or Seth McFarlane They mourned his loss on Twitter.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
