Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried February 28, β April 12, was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent , his squint, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. He also played Mr. Peabody in the Problem Child franchise. Gottfried hosted Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast β , along with Frank Santopadre , which featured discussions of classic films and celebrity interviews, most often with veteran actors, comedians, musicians, and comedy writers.
The documentary Gilbert explored his life and career. His father and grandfather ran the store, above which the family lived. We weren't that aware of the holidays or anything like that, but were aware of being Jewish. It's like I kind of knew that even though I was never bar mitzvahed and we didn't follow the holidays, I knew that if the Nazis came back, I'd be in the same train coach with everyone else.
Gottfried's first routine on stage was at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village during one of its Hootenanny Night events when he was 15 years old. One such incident occurred when Gottfried opened for Belinda Carlisle , which was attended by younger girls and their mothers: "I tried doing my regular act for about five minutes, then I just launched into the filthiest stuff I could think of.
And the next day, I got a call from my agent saying, 'Everybody there loved you,' which is show business talk for, 'You're fired. In , when Saturday Night Live was being retooled with a new staff and new comedians, the producers noticed Gottfried and hired him as a cast member for its sixth season.
During his episode stint, he was rarely used in sketches. Gottfried recalled that a low point was having to play a corpse in a sketch about a sports organist hired to play inappropriate music at a funeral.
