R.I.P. Garry Shandling, Dead at 66

The world has lost actor and comedian Garry Shandling

Actor and comedian Garry Shandling has passed away today at age 66, TMZ reports.

Garry Shandling began his career in Hollywood working as a screenwriter on sitcoms like Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter. In 1981, Shandling performed his standup on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and instantly found an audience. Showtime aired a comedy special, Garry Shandling: Alone in Vegas, in 1984, which soon led to the cable channel airing Shandling’s first television series, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show. The fourth-wall breaking comedy ran for four seasons and 72 episodes. 

Not long after It’s Garry Shandling’s Show ended, Shandling began developing what would become another cable classic. The Larry Sander Show, which starred Shandling as the host of a Tonight Show-esque program, debuted on HBO in 1992 and ran for 89 episodes over six seasons.

Garry Shandling is also known for his work on the big screen, appearing in films like Love Affair and Mixed Nuts. Shandling also wrote and headlined Mike Nichol’s 2000 science fiction comedy What Planet Are You From? and, in 2010, became a Senator in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by way of Jon Favreau‘s Iron Man II. Shandling went on to reprise his Senator Stern role in Anthony and Joe Russo’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Among Shandling’s many notable television appearances was an episode of The X-Files titled “Hollywood AD”. Written and directed by David Duchovny, a close friend of Shandling, the episode sees the late star playing a fictionalized Garry Shandling who has been cast as Agent Fox Mulder in a Hollywood production of a feature film based on an X-File. (Starring opposite Shandling was Duchovny’s then wife Tea Leoni as Agent Dana Scully).

Garry Shandling recently appeared on an episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. You can watch the episode (unfortunately titled “It’s Great That Garry Shandling Is Still Alive”) by clicking here.

What’s your favorite Garry Shandling role? Share your favorite Garry Shandling memories in the comments below!

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