Dom DeLuise

He was a fun actor to watch in the 70s mostly. he was funny seemed to love his work. saw him in more comedies than drama but probably would have been okay in that too. he seemed like a very nice man. never heard anything bad about him. his sons followed him in the acting business. surprised to see him so high up the list but would not mark him all the way down.

He'd be one of the legion stars whose passing caused me to pause and realize that I had for the longest time assumed they were already dead. He was a decent comedic actor, not brilliant but dependable. He always seemed like he'd be a decent addition to a party guest list.

I was hardly a fan, but he made me laugh (most times) when I did see him. He was in a short-lived TV series that came out in 1973 called "Lotsa Luck" that I thought was absolutely hysterical, but I was a kid. He seems to have made his "mark" in Burt Reynolds movies, which I figure had to be something of a mixed blessing. I'm sure it proved to be financially lucrative, but Reynolds movies went from moderately entertaining (the first "Smokey and the Bandit", which owed a lot...a whole lot...to Jackie Gleason) to abysmally puerile garbage in a NY minute, and DeLuise was along for the nose-dive ride down into the career toilet ("Smokey and the Bandit Part II"-- awful; "The End"-- had its moments, but not enough of them; "Cannonball Run"-- pathetically awful fare for inbreds that played at practically all drive-in theatres south of the Mason-Dixon line). Funny story-- My biological uncle, who considered modeling in his younger years, shared an airplane ride with DeLuise once a few years ago, and DeLuise was overt in his attempts to "seduce" my uncle--- not that that came as any great surprise to me when I heard the story, as DeLuise always seemed a bit "sweet" to me anyway (my "gay-dar" was always pretty acute). Of course, not being a homophobe, it wasn't any big deal to me, although my uncle still seemed a bit repulsed as he related the story. Still, all Dom ever tried to do in his life, based on what little I know about him, was to entertain people, and when he wasn't working with Burt Reynolds, he did it more than competently. R.I.P., Dom.

Rest in Peace, Dom! You were a comedic genius! Best movie: The Twelve Chairs (Mel Brooks)....I will watch it again in Dom's honor.