Bob Einstein of Super Dave and ‘Curb’ fame dies at 76
Bob Einstein, a veteran comedy writer and performer who was part of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" and played Marty Funkhouser on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," has died
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Einstein, 76, the veteran comedy writer and performer known for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and his spoof daredevil character Super Dave Osborne, has died, according to his brother, filmmaker Albert Brooks.
Einstein will be "missed forever," Brooks said in a post Wednesday on his verified Twitter account.
"R.I.P. My dear brother Bob Einstein. A great brother, father and husband. A brilliantly funny man," tweeted Brooks, 71.
Details of Einstein's death were not immediately available. Representatives for him and Brooks did not immediately respond to calls or emails.
Einstein was scheduled to be part of the 10th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm but his health barred him from filming, HBO said.
On the comedy, Einstein played annoying pal Marty Funkhouser to Larry David's equally off-putting character. In a statement, David said he'd never seen an actor enjoy a role more than Einstein did playing Marty.
"It was an amazing, unforgettable experience knowing and working with him. There was no one like him, as he told us again and again," David said Wednesday. "We're all in a state of shock."
Einstein introduced his famed Super Dave Osborne character, an inept daredevil whose stunts inevitably went awry, in 1972 on The John Byner Comedy Hour. The character became an enduring fixture on late-night television — from Johnny Carson’s era on The Tonight Show to Jimmy Kimmel Live — and was the focus of a Showtime variety show, Super Dave, that first aired in 1987.
Einstein also had a memorable turn as George Bluth’s deadpan stand-in, Larry Middleman, on Arrested Development.
Einstein was the first comedian to appear twice on Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, having been featured in both Season 1 and Season 9.
As Seinfeld told Einstein in Comedians in Cars, he had long been a fan, dating back to another character Einstein debuted on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: Officer Judy, a no-nonsense public servant who arrested Liberace for “speeding” on the piano in a fondly remembered segment.
“I was in love with you from that moment,” Seinfeld told Einstein. "I thought, ‘This is the funniest guy I’ve ever seen.’ "
He won an Emmy for writing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, on which he also played opposite brothers Tom and Dick Smothers, and a second Emmy in 1976 for Dick Van Dyke’s Van Dyke and Company variety series.
This article contains information from the Washington Post.