(UPI) — Comedian Shecky Greene has died at the age of 97. Greene’s wife, Marie Musso Greene, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he died of natural causes in his Las Vegas home on Sunday morning.
“He always made humor out of whatever he could. He made you laugh and feel good. It was a happy time,” Greene said of her spouse of 41 years.
Born Fred Sheldon Greenfield in Chicago, Greene was a World War II Navy veteran who went on to become famous for the decades of nightclub performances he gave while battling stage fright, alcoholism, prescription-drug abuse and gambling addiction.
File/Danny Thomas, Jack Carter and Shecky Greene during George Burns’ 80th Year in Show Business at Chasen’s Restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, United States. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Greene was also a fixture on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and opened for music shows headlined by music legends Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
He appeared in the films Tony Rome, History of the World Part I, Splash and Love American Style, as well as the sitcoms Laverne & Shirley and Mad About You.
He was a popular guest on the game show circuit.
File/Pictured: (l-r) Guest Host Shecky Greene and Actor Matthew Margolis working with dogs on August 30th, 1976– (Fred Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty)
“Aw… just hearing this. He was special,” actor and comedian Paul Reiser wrote on X Sunday.
“Prided himself on his ironclad memory recall. He did a wonderful (short but memorable) cameo on MadAboutYou and reminded me of a conversation we allegedly had had years earlier. (I had no recollection but was sure he was right.) RIP Shecky.”
Michael McKean posted: “Sorry to hear this. Forty years ago, Shecky came by to visit Phil Foster on the Laverne & Shirley stage, and the three of us laughed far too much for 9 in the morning. Such a funny man, and boy, he hung in there. RIP.”
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