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Comedian Richard Jeni Commits Suicide

From AOL news

Quote:

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (March 11) - 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 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 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, which was hosted by his friend Chris Rock

Unfreakinbelievable...

Richard Jeni

Funny how I'd never heard of him. Even the clip is extremely foreign to me.

Wow....that's all, just wow.

As I was saying in the shouts last nite...this is really sad to me, I remember watching him from his start back when he and Larry Miller used to do comedy stuff that was shown on HBO back in the late 80's. Richard was my all time fav comedian until I discovered Eddie Izzard, but his stand up still held a special place to me. I saw him several times at the clubs here and he was always fantastic.

this is just really really sad

A shame, what a shame.

His family has posted a statement on his website

http://www.richardjeni.com

Quote:

A statement from the family of Richard Jeni

Often times, when we are faced with a sudden and tragic loss, there is a natural curiosity – a need to know what exactly happened.

The family of Richard Jeni would like to put to rest any assumptions as to the cause of Richard’s death. Despite the fact that the coroner’s office has publicly stated that a suicide ruling will take two weeks, pending the results of an autopsy, Richard Jeni did take his own life.

Rumors have been circulating as to the cause of his death and have included speculation of Richard being depressed over the state of his career or a physical ailment. His career was not even addressed by his specialists when they were trying to diagnose Richard’s illness. In fact, he had just enjoyed one of his most financially rewarding years to date. He was consistently creating new material for his busy touring schedule, and during the last week of his life, he had meetings scheduled with Chris Albrecht, Chairman and CEO of HBO, to discuss future projects following his last HBO special. In actuality, the past few years had been more prolific than ever. As his agents can attest, prior to his illness, Richard only missed one engagement in over twenty years, and that was due to weather.

The truth is: earlier this year Richard Jeni was diagnosed with severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia. One only needs to have a family member or friend with a mental illness to understand that there is nothing rational, predictable, or fair about these diseases. Mental illness is as serious as any physical affliction and can be just as devastating.

He was not down or blue, he was ill. If you knew Richard, you could understand, this was as much a shock to those close to him, as it is to his fans and colleagues. Perhaps Richard’s passing will encourage people to have sympathy, compassion and understanding for those who are afflicted with mental illness. As we are all trying to make sense of this, take time to remember the joy and laughter Richard brought to the countless people he touched during his much too short life.

http://www.corporateartists.com/images/richardjeni.jpg
It's a sad day when a person who brings joy leaves us. He made me laugh many times. He will be missed.

What a shame. My first thought on seeing the thread title was that UPN series.

Don't stick on you first thought only :)

To me, Jeni was one of the funniest comedians out there. I loved his HBO specials, and any other tv appearances I could catch him in.

He had great observational humor that I liked.

He will definitely be missed.

Wow, i have never heard of him, but from watching his clips on You Tube i see that he was a pretty good comic.

It's always sad when someone sees fit to kill themselves, no matter what the reason.

i always like his act...

:'(

Why does all good things comes to an end?

That questions always reminds me of what happened to this comedian. :(

Damn, how'd I miss this story until today? Jeni was hilarious. Must have had a rough go over the last few years.

I remember The Platypus Man show, which barely lasted a season. It was good, at least I thought it was.

What a shame.