Garry Shandling suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where he passed away on March 24, 2016, from an apparent heart attack. He was 66.
Shandling was born on November 29, 1949, to a Jewish couple in Chicago. As an adult when he moved to Los Angeles, he wrote scripts for Sanford and Son and Welcome Back Kotter. Frustrated with situation comedy’s “formulaic writing,” he became a stand-up comedian. A couple of years later, he appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He often substituted for Carson and was a contender to replace Carson who retired. But Shandling said, “I really like hosting a talk show, but doing it every night wouldn’t allow me to explore other creative avenues, and I didn’t want to limit myself. I also don’t know how I would do having to worry about ratings.”
Shandling wrote and starred in It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, the sitcom for Showtime. It started in 1986 and ran for four seasons (72 episodes) ending in 1990. Two years later, he wrote, directed, and stared in The Larry Sanders Show for 89 episodes that ended in 1998. It’s considered one of the greatest shows of all time revealing Shandling’s true genius. “Larry Sanders pioneered the concept of stars sending up their “real” off-screen personas… Every showbiz satire that followed—including The Comeback, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage—owes a debt of gratitude to Larry Sanders.”
He earned “56 Emmy nominations and won three, including a writing Emmy for Shandling, who co-wrote the May 1998 series finale that still ranks among the best season finales of all time.”
I was a big fan of Shandling. His shows were my favorites at that time.
Above information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Shandling
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Julaina Kleist-Corwin
Editor of Written Across the Genres
Author of Hada’s Fog
Julaina Kleist-Corwin 