RIP: Dom DeLuise dead at 75

[KA1ZGC]

Report only says he died in his sleep "after battling a long illness".

[w1vtp]

He's going to be missed

Al

[KB2WIG]

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Dom DeLuise, who spiced up such movies as "Blazing Saddles," "Silent Movie" and "The Cannonball Run" with his manic delivery and roly-poly persona, has died, his son's publicist said.


Dom DeLuise was best known for his roles in Mel Brooks films as well as films with his friend Burt Reynolds.

 Publicist Jay Schwartz did not disclose the cause of death, but DeLuise, 75, had been battling cancer for more than a year.

DeLuise was surrounded by family when he died in a Santa Monica, California, hospital Monday night, son Michael DeLuise told CNN affiliate KTLA.

DeLuise was most famous for his supporting roles in a number of Mel Brooks films, including 1974's "Saddles" -- in which he played a flamboyant musical director who led dancers in a number called "The French Mistake" -- and 1976's "Silent Movie," in which he played the assistant to Brooks' director Mel Funn. He was also in the Brooks-directed "The Twelve Chairs" (1970), "Spaceballs" (1987) and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" (1993).

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

That would be Blazing Saddles and the character was Buddy Bizarre - right at the very end.

[Sam KS2AM]

I used to manage a movie theater and I have fond memories of Delouise ("Dom Bell") costarring in "Silent Movie" with Mel Brooks Marty Feldman.  A real silent movie with lots of sights gags of course and only one word uttered during the entire film and that was by the mime Marcel Marceau.

Here's a great clip of a Delouise appearance on the Tonight Show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_6t9e820Uo