Actor, comedian, chef DeLuise dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dom DeLuise, the portly entertainer and chef whose affable nature made him a popular character actor for decades with movie and TV audiences as well as directors and fellow actors, has died. He was 75.

Agent Robert Malcolm said DeLuise died about 6 p.m. Monday at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. Malcolm said the family did not release the cause of death.

“He had high blood pressure, he had diabetes, he had lots of things,” but seemed fine as recently as two weeks ago, he said.

DeLuise entered the hospital Friday, and his wife and all three sons were there when he died “peacefully,” Malcolm said.

A family statement said, “It’s easy to mourn his death but easier to remember a time when he made you laugh.”

The actor, who loved to cook and eat almost as much as he enjoyed acting, also carved out a formidable second career later in life as a chef of fine cuisine. He authored two cookbooks and would appear often on morning TV shows to whip up his favorite recipes.

As an actor, he was incredibly prolific, appearing in scores of movies and TV shows, in Broadway plays and voicing characters for numerous cartoon shows.

Writer-director-actor Mel Brooks particularly admired DeLuise’s talent for offbeat comedy and cast him in several films, including “The Twelve Chairs,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Silent Movie,” “History of the World Part I” and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” DeLuise was also the voice of Pizza the Hutt in Brooks’ “Star Wars” parody, “Spaceballs.”

The actor also frequently appeared opposite his friend Burt Reynolds in films such as “The End,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Smokey and the Bandit II,” “The Cannonball Run” and “Cannonball Run II.” Reynolds fondly recalled DeLuise in a statement issued by his publicist.

“I was thinking about this the other day,” Reynolds said. “As you get older and start to lose people you love, you think about it more, and I was dreading this moment. Dom always made you feel better when he was around, and there will never be another like him. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much.”

Another actor-friend, Dean Martin, admired his comic abilities so much that he cast DeLuise as a regular on his 1960s comedy-variety show. In 1973, he starred in a situation comedy, “Lotsa Luck,” but it proved to be short-lived.

“To know Dom was to love him, and I knew him very well. Not only was he talented and extremely funny, but he was a very special human being,” said actress Carol Burnett, who starred with DeLuise on TV show “The Entertainers” in the ’60s. DeLuise also appeared on “The Carol Burnett Show” in the ’70s.

Other TV credits included appearances on such shows as “The Munsters,” “The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.,” “Burke’s Law,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Diagnosis Murder.”

On Broadway, DeLuise appeared in Neil Simon’s “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” and other plays.

Because of his passion for food, the actor battled obesity, reaching as much as 325 pounds. On the positive side, his love of food resulted in two successful cookbooks.

He was born Dominick DeLuise in New York City on Aug. 1, 1933, to Italian immigrants. His father, who spoke only Italian, was a garbage collector, and those humble beginnings stayed with him.

DeLuise’s introduction to acting came at age 8 when he played the title role of Peter Rabbit in a school play. Acting called him back, however, and he found work at the Cleveland Playhouse, appearing in stage productions that ranged from comedies such as “Kiss Me Kate” to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

While working in summer stock in Provincetown, Mass., he met actress Carol Arthur, and they were soon married.

The couple’s three sons, Peter, Michael and David, all became actors.