Things We Learned About Comedians After They Died
Lots of comedians are open about their private lives, but plenty of late entertainers left behind secrets and revelations. These are just some of the things we learned about iconic comics after they died.
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00:00Lots of comedians are open about their private lives, but plenty of late entertainers left
00:05behind secrets and revelations.
00:07These are just some of the things we learned about iconic comics after they died.
00:11Chris Farley was one of the shining lights of Saturday Night Live during his five-year
00:15stint on the show, which began in 1990.
00:18Known for his physicality and over-energetic performances as Matt Foley and other beloved
00:22characters, Farley was instantly recognizable, becoming known for his ability to make his
00:27co-stars break character by laughing at his antics.
00:30I am 35 years old, I am divorced, and I live in a van down by the river.
00:38The early 90s at SNL became infamous for the supposed hedonism of its cast, with the show's
00:43legendary after-parties widely believed to be some of the wildest in show business.
00:48Much of this was due to the reputation of known party animals, including Farley and
00:52former SNL star John Belushi.
00:54Belushi, who was Farley's great comedy idol, died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age
01:00of 33.
01:01So, when Farley himself rose to prominence, his friends worried that he may suffer the
01:05same fate.
01:06One of these friends was Jim Belushi, brother of John, who revealed on the David Spade and
01:10Dana Carvey podcast Fly on the Wall that he had tried to warn Farley by saying,
01:14"'You can't follow John.
01:16You can't follow his track.
01:18The guy did drugs.
01:19He's dead.
01:20You can't follow him with the drugs to find out who he was.'"
01:22Tragically, Farley died of an overdose on December 18, 1997, also aged 33.
01:29Joan Rivers was a trailblazer among the generation of comedians who first hit it big in the 1960s.
01:35After years honing her craft in New York coffeehouses following a failed acting career, she won
01:39a prestigious booking on The Late Show with Johnny Carson in 1965 and skyrocketed to nationwide
01:45fame.
01:46She became a favorite among viewers and appeared regularly on the show, filling in for Carson
01:50on occasion as a guest host.
01:52Rivers' life was also beset by a number of professional troubles and personal tragedies.
01:56In 1986, she was offered her own late-night show, the first to be fronted by a woman full-time,
02:02which was sadly a bomb and canceled after just one season.
02:06Worse, Carson took Rivers' professional development as a personal betrayal, and their friendship
02:10broke down.
02:11In 1987, her husband died by suicide, and her career went into freefall.
02:16Rivers overcame her setbacks and remained a popular TV figure and a live draw right
02:21up until her death on September 4, 2014, at the age of 81.
02:25She died after being admitted for a routine endoscopy procedure at a Manhattan clinic,
02:30during which she suddenly stopped breathing.
02:32It was later alleged by lawyers for Rivers' family that the clinic had performed a laryngoscopy
02:37instead, and the death was later confirmed to be the result of medical malpractice.
02:41The clinic and Rivers' family reached an out-of-court settlement.
02:44In my opinion, it was 100 percent preventable."
02:51Few comedians in the American entertainment industry commanded as much respect throughout
02:55their careers as the legendary John Rickles.
02:57A contemporary of Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack, as well as a staple of The Tonight Show
03:02with Johnny Carson, Rickles was a gifted improviser who was best known for his caustic one-liners,
03:07withering put-downs, and celebrity roasts.
03:10Rickles died on April 6, 2017, at the grand old age of 90, with everyone from Mel Brooks
03:16and Dick Van Dyke to Tom Hanks and Danny DeVito coming out of the woodwork to pay tribute.
03:21Among those dedications came some morsels of comfort for his fans in the form of anecdotes
03:25from those who knew him, many of which outlined hilarious encounters with the comedian.
03:30Stand-up and chat show host Craig Ferguson posted on social media,
03:34Aw, geez.
03:35Rickles.
03:36Sweetest, funniest, legend and mensch.
03:38Came to a party at my house, gave me a dollar, and told me to get a nicer place.
03:42Meanwhile, Kevin Nealon reminisced,
03:44"'As I was standing nearby, Don Rickles once whispered in my wife's ear,
03:48"'What are you doing with a loser like him?''
03:50Meanwhile, Rickles' rabbi penned a piece for Time magazine, recalling his first introduction
03:55to the comedian, who said to him,
03:57"'Nice to meet you.
03:58In a few years, you will get pimples.
04:00But they'll pass.'"
04:01He also recounted how during planned visits to Rickles' home, the comedian would cycle
04:05through countless variations of telling him to go away before finally buzzing him into
04:09the building.
04:11Another comedian who remained prolific until their death was the legendary George Carlin,
04:15who died suddenly of heart failure on June 22, 2008.
04:19Just a few months before he passed, Carlin released a new stand-up special for HBO, the
04:2414th of his extensive career.
04:26Psychology Today's Jay Dixit, who conducted the last-ever interview with Carlin, described
04:31the comedian as, quote,
04:32"...generous with his time," meaning that the 350-word profile expanded into a 14,000-word
04:38first draft.
04:39Carlin was a hero to many of his fellow comedians, a fearless stand-up whose material pushed
04:44the boundaries of the art form and challenged the censorship laws of the day.
04:48As his final interview shows, his colleagues were never shy about giving him praise.
04:53Carlin revealed in the interview that he was recently telephoned by a very famous name
04:57in the world of comedy, who wanted to praise his new stand-up special and tell Carlin that
05:01he was their inspiration to start doing stand-up.
05:04After Carlin's death, the caller was confirmed to have been Jerry Seinfeld, who claims that
05:08the pair joked about the former's death in what turned out to be their last-ever phone
05:12call.
05:13Over the course of 12 seasons spanning 24 years, Larry David's curbier enthusiasm has
05:26established itself as one of the biggest cult comedies of the 21st century.
05:30Based on the Seinfeld co-creator's real life as a successful celebrity in Los Angeles,
05:34the show was characterized by David's incessant bickering with friends and strangers he encounters
05:39in his day-to-day life.
05:41Like David, many of the stars of the show play versions of themselves, including the
05:45renowned stand-up comedian Richard Lewis.
05:48On screen, the two portray a strained friendship, but in real life, David and Lewis were as
05:52close as friends could be.
05:54The two first met at a sports camp when they were just 12 years old, and later reconnected
05:58in the New York comedy scene.
06:00They remained best friends until Lewis died of a heart attack on February 27, 2024, at
06:0576 years old.
06:06In honor of his friendship with Lewis, David revealed a bit more about their relationship,
06:10saying,
06:11"...Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital, and for most of my life
06:15he's been like a brother to me.
06:16He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest.
06:21But today, he made me sob, and for that, I'll never forgive him."
06:24David has since admitted that he still speaks to his departed friend and feels that Lewis
06:29is watching over him.
06:30I love you, Larry.
06:31I really love you."
06:33New York-born Lenny Bruce was one of the most controversial comedians of the 20th century.
06:37Having risen to prominence in the 1950s, he found himself facing down the period's obscenity
06:42laws, which led to disastrous consequences for his career and his personal life.
06:46A committed and unwavering social satirist, Bruce spent his career slaying the sacred
06:51cows of his era, becoming known as one of the most shocking comedians on the circuit.
06:55After growing his audience through a TV appearance on The Steve Allen Show, Bruce found himself
07:00charged with obscenity and blacklisted from many of his former clubs.
07:04Facing increasing poverty, Lenny Bruce died tragically after overdosing on morphine in
07:08his Hollywood home on August 3, 1966.
07:12At the time of his death, Bruce was considered a dangerous subversive by many of those in
07:16power, as well as the tabloid press.
07:18Thirty-three years after his death, it was revealed that Bruce's body, which had been
07:23discovered on the toilet and dressed by the friend who found him, was stripped naked by
07:27the police.
07:28They apparently decided that the notorious comic deserved to have a sensationalized final
07:32photo.
07:34News of the death of Gary Shandling was met with a wave of shock and grief from famous
07:37figures across the world of comedy.
07:40After he suffered a fatal heart attack in 2016 at the age of 66, friends and colleagues
07:45poured forward to pay tribute.
07:47Shandling was revered as a master of meta-comedy, especially in his talk show spoof The Larry
07:51Sanders Show, which was an influence on comedians including Jerry Seinfeld and Ricky Gervais.
07:57But alongside his comedy, Shandling was also praised for his kindness and generosity, the
08:02latter being an aspect of his personality that he kept private about in life, but was
08:06mentioned in all of the dedications that came after his death.
08:09Stars including Amy Schumer, Steve Martin, and Conan O'Brien all shared their love for
08:14the late comedian.
08:15Numerous dedications to Shandling mentioned his willingness to help those in need, which
08:19was a central theme and a warm feature about his life in the Orange County Register.
08:23When his will was read, it was revealed that $15 million from his estate would be donated
08:28to UCLA to fund developments in medical research.
08:32As host of The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992, Johnny Carson welcomed all of the biggest
08:38names in classic comedy.
08:39He was also something of a kingmaker among comedians looking to make it in the entertainment
08:43industry.
08:44His show provided a coveted spot for a guest comedian to perform five minutes of stand-up
08:49on a platform big enough to make or break an up-and-comer's career.
08:53Since Carson's death, lurid details of his private life have occasionally emerged, including
08:57one particularly bizarre incident.
09:00Allegedly, Carson recruited several colleagues to break into an apartment where his wife
09:04had been conducting an illicit affair with an American footballer.
09:07That story in particular fired up the gossipy side of the press, but for Carson's actual
09:12fans a more interesting tidbit from his life was revealed during an episode of Late Night
09:16with David Letterman.
09:18Following the news of Carson's death, Letterman, who was a former guest host of The Tonight
09:21Show, delivered a monologue composed entirely of jokes written by Carson for Late Night.
09:27By doing so, he revealed that the legend had continued to write and submit material to
09:31the show long after the world believed he had retired.
09:35Charlie Chaplin was one of the icons of his day, the silent clown who defined screen comedy
09:40for generations of viewers.
09:41Chaplin was one of the few to make a successful leap to the talkies, but his great genius
09:46was slapstick, a comedic art form he took to heights that have defined the genre ever
09:50since.
09:51But rather than simply being a physical comedian, Chaplin was also an insightful satirist whose
09:56greatest films were considered subversive by viewers of the day.
09:59The 1936 classic Modern Times was a searing — and hilarious — takedown of the dehumanizing
10:05nature of capitalism, while Chaplin turned his attention to fascism with his Hitler parodying
10:10The Great Dictator in 1940.
10:12He was also politically active off-camera, with an admitted interest in Bolshevism and
10:17friendships with several communist figures.
10:19It later was revealed that the beloved comedian had drawn the attention of the FBI, who compiled
10:24a file on him hundreds of pages long.
10:26The file contained an interview he gave with the Immigration Office about his political
10:30views, among various reports on his personal life.
10:33Indeed, J. Edgar Hoover himself was convinced that Chaplin was a communist sympathizer,
10:38and therefore a security risk, which led to Chaplin being barred from re-entry to the
10:42U.S. in 1952.
10:44The comedian was also investigated for interstate prostitution, the result of complaints made
10:49against him by actress Joan Barry, although the charges against him were dropped.