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American comedian Gilbert Gottfried has passed away at the age of 67.
According to his publicist and longtime pal Glenn Schwartz, Gottfried died on April 12 at 2:35 p.m. after battling ventricular tachycardia due to myotonic dystrophy type II.
After his passing, Gottfried's family released an official statement on Twitter that reads:
"We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness."
Gottfried, who performed stand-up comedy for over five decades, was dubbed "the comedian's comedian." This is because he put aside political correctness in his performances and cracked jokes that knew no boundaries.
What is Gilbert Gottfried's net worth?
Born on February 28, 1955, Gilbert Gottfried was a native of Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Max Gottfried, a hardware store owner, and Lillian, a homemaker. His family resided above the hardware store.
Gottfried was 15 when he began performing amateur stand-up comedy around the Big Apple. As per Celebrity Net Worth, the comedian's net worth was $8 million at the time of his death.
In 1980, Gottfried had a 12-episode run on Saturday Night Live and in Beverly Hills Cop II, one of his first major film appearances, where he reconnected with his SNL co-star Eddie Murphy.
Gottfried was a regular guest on Howard Stern's radio show in the 1980s, impersonating individuals including Andrew "Dice" Clay, Groucho Marx, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula.
Gottfried made appearances in films like Problem Child, Highway to Hell, and Looks Who's Talking Too in the 1990s. He also voiced Iago the parrot in 1992's Aladdin.
Iago was the irritating but amusing comedic relief who followed the evil Jafar. Gottfried reprised the role in two direct-to-video sequels, a TV series, and the video games Kingdom Hearts.
Gottfried's other notable roles include Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dr. Bender and his son Wendell in The Fairly OddParents, and Mr. Mxyzptlk in Superman: The Animated Series.
Gottfried became a frequent guest on celebrity roasts and game programs in the 2000s and 2010s. He has performed in the Comedy Central roasts of Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, David Hasselhoff, Donald Trump, and Roseanne Barr. He has also appeared in game programs such as Hollywood Squares and Pyramid.
However, Gottfried's edgy humor landed him in trouble on numerous occasions.
Three weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Gottfried quipped that he couldn't get a direct flight from New York to California because "they said they had to stop at the Empire State Building first."
The audience was startled and shouted out, "too soon." However, Gottfried won them over and swiftly made news by performing one of the first 9/11 jokes.
Gottfried was blacklisted by producers after making multiple m*sturbation jokes live at the 1991 Emmy Awards. He also lost his position as the voice of the Aflac duck after tweeting jokes about the 2011 Tohoku Japanese earthquake catastrophe, which was the country's fourth-most severe earthquake ever.
Gilbert Gottfried is survived by his wife, Dara Kravitz, and two kids, Lily and Max.
