Great Comedians Who Died Too Young

As Mel Brooks' "History of the World, Part II" has shown, comedy does not have an age limit. Brooks remains as wickedly funny and observant as many comics half or even three-quarters his age. And he's not alone as the senior face of comedy: Steve Martin and Martin Short are drawing rave reviews and earning awards for "Only Murders in the Building," while Short's "SCTV" co-stars, Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, as well as Chris Elliott, completed one of the most beloved comedies in recent years, "Schitt's Creek." The list of comics ages 55 and over who remain fresh, relevant, and hilarious is long and star-filled, from Chris Rock to John Cleese and Lily Tomlin.

Sadly, there are many top comics who passed away far too early, leaving behind incredible bodies of work but also the bittersweet pang of unrealized greatness. Illness, mental issues, and substance abuse are just some of the culprits for the tragic losses of these great talents. Following is a list of some of the best North American comics who died too young.

An alumnus of the famed Second City improvisational troupe that spawned some of the most celebrated names in comedy of the last half-century, John Belushi burst into the public consciousness as a member of the original "Not Ready for Primetime Players" on "Saturday Night Live." Belushi's best-known characters — the slow-boiling Samurai Fubata, the preternaturally soulful (and graceful) Elwood Blues of the Blues Brothers, and a "Weekend Update" contributor who worked himself into fits of anger — bristled with a barely controlled energy and charisma that audiences found irresistible.

His popularity on the series briefly translated into movie stardom with "Animal House," which cast him as the most anarchic brother at a slob-filled fraternity house, and "The Blues Brothers," which provided him and musical partner Dan Aykroyd with an over-the-top screen adventure. But like many comics, he struggled to translate his success in one medium to another, and the majority of his feature efforts, including "Neighbors" and "Continental Divide," were failures. Belushi also struggled with a substance abuse problem that ultimately ended his life in 1982. The 33-year-old actor and comedian was found dead at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles on March 5, 1982, from a combined overdose of cocaine and heroin.

Mitch Hedburg's signature comic style — a free-ranging flow of off-kilter observations ("I got a fire alarm at home, but it's really more like a 9-volt battery slow drainer") delivered in a deadpan drawl — made him a favorite among alternative comedy fans for a brief period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. After years of playing comedy clubs across the country in the late 1980s, the Minnesota native earned his big break on "Late Night With David Letterman" in 1996. Appearances on Howard Stern's radio program and television specials followed, as did two comedy albums ("Strategic Grill Locations" and "Mitch All Together"), which led to a deal with Fox for a TV sitcom and appointment as "the next Seinfeld" by Time Magazine.

Hedburg was well known as a recreational drug user, which on occasion landed him in legal trouble, including a 2004 arrest for heroin possession. His substance abuse problems caught up with him the following year when he was found dead in a hotel room in Livingston, New Jersey, on March 30, 2005. Though heart attack was initially given as the cause of death, the state medical examiner attributed the 37-year-old comic's passing to the presence of several drugs in his system, including cocaine and heroin.

Less of a traditional joke-telling comedian than a performer whose act embraced playfully absurdist behavior and barely controlled fits of emotion and physicality, Andy Kaufman was a unique figure in American comedy during the 1980s. His work has come to represent some of the furthest creative limits of comedy. Kaufman's club act in the 1970s, which featured deliberately bad jokes by his accented Foreign Man persona and a full-throttled imitation of Elvis Presley, helped earn him the role of Latka Gravas — a sweetly befuddled riff on his Foreign Man persona — on "Taxi" and attention-grabbing appearances on "Fridays" and "Saturday Night Live."

Kaufman's willingness to submerge completely into characters occasionally produced chaotic results: his unpleasant lounge singer character Tony Clifton sowed confusion by attempting to upend Kaufman's career, and a stint as a wrestler, often pitted against women, earned protests from professional wrestlers and audiences alike. In 1983, Kaufman was diagnosed with large-cell carcinoma of the lung, which he attempted to treat with both traditional and holistic means. He died from the disease at the age of 35 on May 16, 1984, which spawned decades-long (and still extant) rumors that Kaufman's death was yet another elaborately devised prank.

Named a comedian to watch by both Comedy Central and TimeOut Los Angeles, Jak Knight earned raves as an opening performer for top comics like Hannibal Burress and Dave Chappelle before moving into writing, producing, and acting for television and film. Knight was perhaps best known outside of stand-up circles for voicing DeVon on "Big Mouth," for which he also served as writer and producer; the Seattle native also wrote for "Black-ish" in 2019 and 2020 and earned a Writers Guild of America Award in 2022 for writing and co-producing the HBO talk series "Pause With Sam Jay."

That same year, Knight joined Jay and Chris Redd on the Peacock comedy "Bust Down," which he helped created. He was also expanding into feature work, most notably in "First Time Female Director," a comedy written and directed by fellow comic Chelsea Peretti. On July 14, 2022, the 28-year-old Knight was found with a fatal gunshot wound on an embankment in Los Angeles, California; the Los Angeles County coroner's office later ruled the death as a suicide.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Greg Giraldo left a burgeoning career as a lawyer to become a comedian whose unfiltered brand of humor made him a go-to for full-contact comedy shows like "Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn" and Comedy Central's ego-bruising celebrity roasts. A fixture on the national comedy club circuit, Giraldo's ranting delivery, which targeted himself as much as others, led to talk show appearances and briefly, his own sitcom, "Common Law," in 1996. He found more lasting on-screen work as a panelist on Quinn's show, the reality series "Last Comic Standing," and the Jerry Seinfeld-produced "Marriage Ref," as well as his own comedy specials for "Comedy Central Presents."

Giraldo, who joked occasionally but candidly about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, was found unconscious after an apparent drug overdose in a hotel room in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on September 25, 2010. He was placed on life support but was removed after four days at the behest of his family and died at the age of 44 on September 29, 2010.

The meteoric rise and fall of comedian Freddie Prinze encompassed just a few short years in the 1970s, during which he traversed from the New York comedy club circuit to national recognition as the star of a primetime sitcom, "Chico and the Man," which partnered him with veteran actor Jack Albertson. Prinze had earned the series after winning over Johnny Carson during a 1973 appearance on "The Tonight Show"; Carson invited the then-unknown Prinze to sit down after his set, which was virtually unheard of for first-time comics. The appearance led to Prinze's casting on "Chico," which enjoyed strong ratings in its debut season.

But Prinze's fame was undermined by a combination of substance abuse — primarily cocaine and Quaaludes — and depression, which worsened after his divorce from wife Katherine Cochran in 1976. The following year, Prinze, 22, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while visiting with his manager, Marvin Snyder, on January 28, 1977. His son, Freddie Prinze, Jr., who was only a year old at the time of his father's death, went on to enjoy his own career as an actor, writer, and producer.

The son of a Pentecostal preacher, Sam Kinison began his career as a fire-and-brimstone preacher but found a more successful outlet for that high-decibel performing as a stand-up comic in the 1980s. He began his career as a member of the Texas Outlaw Comics, a Houston-based group that included Bill Hicks, before relocating to Los Angeles. There, his no-holds-barred act, which punctuated jokes on hot-button topics like sex and religion with ear-piercing screams, caught the attention of Rodney Dangerfield, who featured him on a comedy special in 1985. A slew of comedy albums, including 1988's "Have You Seen Me Lately?" anchored Kinison as an act popular with young audiences and rock and roll types, and even generated a Grammy-nominated single with a cover of "Wild Thing."

Kinison's fame was tempered by an addiction to drugs and alcohol, which upended business relationships with MTV, HBO, and his record label, Warner Bros, as well as movie deals and comedy dates. He professed to have cleaned up his personal and professional life in 1992 and was working on a handful of new projects when a pickup truck struck his car on a highway near Needles, California, on April 10 of that year. The 38-year-old Kinison, who was en route to a performance in Laughlin, Nevada, died of internal injuries moments after the crash.