It was his voice which made comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried stand out and become so familiar to many who had never witnessed his performances.

It was an incomparable and unforgettable sound: shrill, high-pitched and harsh, nasal and hoarse, with a strong New York accent. His numerous roles in both film and television included voicing the scarlet macaw Iago in the Aladdin animated film series, Digit LeBoid in Cyberchase, Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and The Aflac Duck, which symbolised the insurance company, Aflac’s campaign to raise money and awareness for children’s cancer.

Gottfried, who has died aged 67 of a rare form of muscular dystrophy, was only 5ft 5in tall and while his body looked frail, his head was large. He performed with an exaggerated squint and often came across as a precocious child in a tantrum.

He started his comedy acts at the age of 15 at open mic nights and learned to aim for the last spot where he could mimic the previous performers. He recalled that Jerry Seinfeld would refuse to come into the room when he was ‘doing him’.

Gilbert Gottfried (49732474471)

Gilbert Gottfried

Although he was hired for Saturday Night Live in 1980, he was barely used in the 12 episodes in which he appeared. In 1987 he did a ‘special’ for Cinemax and for nine years from 1989, hosted USA Network’s Up All Night, which presented bad movies.

He also hosted the 1991 Emmys but his jokes about the arrest of American comedic actor and entertainer Paul Reubens in the role of his comic creation Pee Wee Herman were considered in such poor taste that they were later edited out by Fox.

Three of Gottfried’s most prominent roles were in 1990, 1991 and 1992 when he was cast as the adoption agent Igor Peabody in Problem Child and Problem Child 2, and as the parrot Iago in Aladdin.

His greatest comedic fame came in the 2005 film, The Aristocrats, in which comedians discussed and performed the dirty jokes they had told each other over many years.

Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried was born in Coney Island in Brooklyn, the son of Lillian Zimmerman and Max Gottfried, who owned a hardware store.

He had two older sisters, Karen and Arlene. Although his family was Jewish they were anything but Orthodox. He recalled eating pork, was unaware of the Jewish festivals, and had no barmitzvah.

But nevertheless, he was conscious of being Jewish and believed that, were the Nazis to come back, he would be a victim.

He was nominated three times for the Golden Raspberry award for the worst supporting actor of 1990; as Johnny Crunch in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, as Joey, the baby gym instructor in Look Who’s Talking Too and Mr Peabody in Problem Child.

He also had cameos — as Hitler in Highway to Hell in 1991 and as Abraham Lincoln in A Million Ways to Die in the West in 2014.

Gottfried hosted The Amazing Colossal Podcast, which featured discussions of classic movies and celebrity interviews, usually with veteran actors, comedians, musicians and comedy writers. The documentary on his life and career, Gilbert, won the Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2017 Dead Centre Film Festival. The same year he appeared as himself in Episodes, where a contestant on the show is penalised with “48 hours of Gilbert Gottfried”.

On June 10 2018, he took part in a special episode of the American late night satirical talk show Last Week Tonight with comedian John Oliver, aimed at UK audiences. He returned in November to read out extracts from the Brexit agreement — again for UK viewers only.

He had also appeared on the show as ‘the real voice of Jared Kushner’ in dubbed film clips, and on January 10 this year, he guest-starred as God in the final episode of the season of Smiling Friends, an Australian-American adult animated TV series.

He married his long-term girlfriend Dara Kravitz in 2007 and they had two children, Lily, now 14, and Max, 12. It was Dara who brought Jewish ritual into his life. They married under a chupah and she insisted the children should have a Jewish education. Lily recently celebrated her batmitzvah on zoom during the pandemic.

In personal tributes to Gottfried, he was described above all as a father. While usually private about his personal life, being a parent was obviously a great joy to him.

He is also remembered as a kind and gentle soul in his relationships with his mother and his sister Arlene, whom he helped take care of in her final days in 2017 when she was dying of cancer.

Gilbert Gottfried: born February 28, 1955.
Died April 12, 2022.