Richard Jeni dead - suicide at 45

[UK78ALUM]

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Richard Jeni, a standup comedian who played to sold-out crowds, was a regular on the "Tonight Show" and appeared in movies, died of a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, police said Sunday.

Police found the 45-year-old comedian alive but gravely injured in a West Hollywood home when they responded to a call Saturday morning from Jeni's girlfriend, Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman said.

Eisenman said the caller told police: "My boyfriend shot himself in the face."
Jeni died at a nearby hospital.

Eisenman said suicide had not been officially confirmed and the investigation was continuing.

Jeni regularly toured the country with a standup act and had starred in several HBO comedy specials, most recently "A Big Steaming Pile of Me" during the 2005-06 season.

Another HBO special, "Platypus Man," won a Cable ACE award for best standup comedy special, and formed the basis for his UPN sitcom of the same name, which ran for one season.

Jeni's movie credits included "The Mask," in which he played Jim Carrey's best friend, "The Aristocrats," "National Lampoon's Dad's Week Off," and "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn."

He had guest appearances in the TV shows "Everybody Hates Chris," "Married: With Children," and updated versions of the game shows "Hollywood Squares" and "Match Game."

The Brooklyn-born comic first received national attention in 1990 with the Showtime special "Richard Jeni: Boy From New York City." Two years later, his "Crazy From the Heat" special attracted the highest ratings in Showtime's history.

Jeni became a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" during Johnny Carson's reign and continued to appear after Jay Leno took over as host.

He also wrote comic material for the 2005 Academy Awards (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Academy+Awards), which was hosted by his friend Chris Rock.

[baldcat]

Wow :shock:

John Belushi, Sam Kinison, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Chris Farley....why do alot of comics have such stormy/tragic endings?

[BowlingGreenUKGrad]

FWIW, Pryor had a pretty interesting life...but he was 65 when he died of a heart attack.

[Terry L. Wildcat]

baldcat wrote: Wow :shock:

John Belushi, Sam Kinison, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Chris Farley....why do alot of comics have such stormy/tragic endings?

I saw Bill Maher on Larry King Live last night and he was obviously saddened and confused about the suicide...have you seen "Lenny" starring Dustin Hoffman?...my favorite funny man ever, "Curly", also didn't have that happy a life.

[surveyor]

I think many comedians are comedians as the result of their own personal demons. Many use comedy as a "wall" of sorts. Humor allows one to put up a facade around what they perceive are their own shortcomings and insecurities.

Often people think comedians lead a happy ever joyful life, when with many, quite the opposite is true.

Jeni's death reminds me of Ray Comb's suicide in `96.

[VirginiaBlue]

I'm not a cop, but suicide by shooting yourself in the face? That's about 127th in line when I decide to do it.

[surveyor]

I can't recall the source, but I recall statistically, men are much more likely to shoot themselves in the head / face / mouth, while women are more likely to shoot themselves in the chest.

[Trueblujr]

surveyor wrote: I can't recall the source, but I recall statistically, men are much more likely to shoot themselves in the head / face / mouth, while women are more likely to shoot themselves in the chest.
Unfortunately, it's probably more common than you might think, My first cousin, who was close in age to me and one of my best boyhood pals took his own life that way.

[baldcat]

The name Rosie O'Donnell sprang into my head as I read your cogent post, surveyor.

surveyor wrote:
I think many comedians are comedians as the result of their own personal demons. Many use comedy as a "wall" of sorts. Humor allows one to put up a facade around what they perceive are their own shortcomings and insecurities.

Often people think comedians lead a happy ever joyful life, when with many, quite the opposite is true.

Jeni's death reminds me of Ray Comb's suicide in `96.

[surveyor]

Terry L. Wildcat wrote:...my favorite funny man ever, "Curly", also didn't have that happy a life.
Curly's was a sad story indeed. Seemed to be a guy living life as if he were making up for lost time.
He was also an introvert. His personality was quite different around folks versus on screen.

[HOMEYCAT]

I think a lot of comedy is born of anger. It is often a way to turn other activities such as beating the crap out of some neighbor into laughter which is far more desirable. It often has to do with seeking justice. Mean people need to be punished somehow and comedy is a way to punish them. Witness the adjectives used to describe a successful comedy or stand up routine. "He slew the audience!" Or, "He killed"...

Stand up comics are, for me, some of the most admirable people in the world. They are certainly among the bravest.

Comics live long lives sometimes, but many are working with a depressive bent and sometimes get too far down. I would say that when compared to other professions, they fair better than one might think. I mean there are as many examples of long lives as thereare of short ones, it is just that the short ones seem shocking.

The Octogenarians and beyond include a lot of comics.

Comedy is also.....extremely stressful business. Each time one performs, there is nagging doubt until the audience starts laughing and, then there is a great release of stressy stuff like hormones, testosterone, etc. It's as hard as anything anybody does....

[surveyor]

I don't disagree.

I don't believe comics to be short-lived versus any other entertainment profession. However, they do seem to suffer seemingly more than their fair share of substance abuse problems or emotional problems.

I suppose the same could be true of any other persons of an artistic bent, artists, musicians, actors, etc.

[baldcat]

I read once that Groucho Marx was also prone to episodes of severe and abnormaldepression but I can't vouch for the veracity of that.

[surveyor]

Farewell to a Friend (http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/pow_right_between_the_eye/2007/03/true_story_in_t.html)

http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/richardjeni_1.jpg

Good read by Andy Nulman

[baldcat]

Add Freddy Prinze from Chico and the Man to the list.

I forgot about him in my previous post.

[trublu]

I had not heard of this.:( Very sad. I really enjoyed his comedy.