Garry Shandling

Garry Emmanuel Shandling (November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer.

Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms, such as Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter. He made a successful stand-up performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson where he became a frequent guest and host. Shandling was, for a time, considered to replace Carson. In 1986, he created It's Garry Shandling's Show, which aired on Showtime. It was nominated for four Emmy Awards (including one for Shandling) and lasted until 1990.

Shandling's second show, The Larry Sanders Show, began airing on HBO in 1992. He was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1998, along with Peter Tolan, for writing the series finale. In film, he had a recurring role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Iron Man 2 (2010) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He also lent his voice to Verne the turtle in Over the Hedge (2006). Shandling's final performance was as the voice of Ikki in the live-action remake of The Jungle Book (2016). The film released posthumously.

During his four-decade career, Shandling was nominated for 19 Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, along with many other awards and nominations. He served as host of the Grammy Awards four times and as host of the Emmy Awards two times.

Early life Garry Emmanuel Shandling was born into a Jewish family in Chicago on November 29, 1949, the son of pet store proprietor Muriel Estelle (née Singer) and print shop owner Irving Shandling. He grew up in the Casa Loma Estates area of Tucson, Arizona, having moved there with his family so that his older brother Barry could receive treatment for cystic fibrosis. After graduating from Palo Verde High School, Shandling attended the University of Arizona to major in electrical engineering, but instead completed a degree in marketing and pursued a year of postgraduate studies in creative writing.

Career Early work When Shandling was 19, he drove two hours to a club in Phoenix and showed some jokes to George Carlin, who was performing there. The next day, on a repeat round-trip, Carlin told him that he had "funny stuff on every page" and should keep at it. In 1973, he moved to Los Angeles and worked at an advertising agency for a time, then sold a script for the popular NBC sitcom Sanford and Son. He also wrote scripts for the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and attended a story meeting for Three's Company.

Stand-up comedy Shandling said that he became a stand-up comedian because of an incident that happened one day at a story meeting for Three's Company, in which one of the show's producers complained about a line of dialogue and said, "Well, Chrissy wouldn't say that." He recalled, "I just looked. I said, 'I don't think I can do this.' And I stopped right there and went on to perform."

In 1978, Shandling performed his first stand-up routine at The Comedy Store. A year later, he was one of the few performers to cross the picket line when a group of comedians organized a boycott against the Comedy Store, protesting owner Mitzi Shore's policy of not paying comedians to perform. According to William Knoedelseder, Shandling "was the scion of a family with decidedly antiunion views. He had not shared the struggling comic experience. He was a successful sitcom writer trying to break into stand-up, and prior to the strike, Shore had refused to put him in the regular lineup because she didn't think he was good enough. Of course, that changed the minute he crossed the picket line."

Shandling's onstage persona was an anxiety-ridden, nervous, uptight, conservative man on the verge of a breakdown. After a couple of years on the road, he was booked by a talent scout from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to appear as a guest in 1981. Shandling substituted for Carson on a regular basis until 1987, followed by a second televised special in 1986, The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special, also for Showtime. In 1991, a third special, Garry Shandling: Stand-Up, was part of the HBO Comedy Hour.

Television series It's Garry Shandling's Show In 1985, Shandling and Alan Zweibel went on to create It's Garry Shandling's Show. Through 1990, it ran for 72 episodes on Showtime. The edited reruns played on the Fox network beginning in 1988.

The series was nominated for four Emmy Awards,

The Larry Sanders Show

In 1992, Shandling launched another critical and commercial success by creating the mock behind-the-scenes talk show sitcom The Larry Sanders Show, which ran for 89 episodes through to 1998 on HBO. It garnered 56 Emmy Award nominations and three wins. Shandling based the series on his experiences guest-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 1993, NBC offered Shandling $5 million to take over Late Night when David Letterman announced his highly publicized move to CBS, but Shandling declined. He was subsequently offered The Late Late Show, but also declined in favor of continuing The Larry Sanders Show.

Shandling wrote 38 episodes of the series and directed three in its final season. He was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the series: He won one Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for the series finale "Flip." He was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) in 1994 and 1995. He won two American Comedy Awards for Funniest Male Performance in a Comedy Series, eight CableACE Awards, and a BAFTA Award.

In 2002, TV Guide named The Larry Sanders Show as 38th Greatest Show of All Time. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 28th in the "100 best shows from 1983 to 2008" list, and it was included on Time magazine's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time.

The first season was re-released in 2007, along with a Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show, Shandling's picks of the best 23 episodes.

In October 2012, Shandling returned with fellow cast members from The Larry Sanders Show for Entertainment Weekly'''s Reunions issue, where he was reunited with co-stars Rip Torn, Jeffrey Tambor, Sarah Silverman, Penny Johnson Jerald, Wallace Langham and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Other work

Shandling hosted the Grammy Awards in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994. He hosted the Emmy Awards in 2000 and 2004, and co-hosted (doing the opening monologue) in 2003.

He also appeared in a brief cameo in Zoolander (2001). Shandling also co-starred as Verne in Over the Hedge (2006), which became one of his best-known roles. He appeared in Iron Man 2 (2010) as Senator Stern, and reprised the role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He appeared in an uncredited cameo as a health inspector in The Dictator (2012).

He starred as himself representing Fox Mulder, alongside Téa Leoni as Dana Scully in The X-Files season 7 spoof episode "Hollywood A.D."

In February 2010, Shandling was staying at the same Waipio Valley hotel that Conan O'Brien checked into after his departure from The Tonight Show. They spent their entire vacations together, Shandling helping to rehabilitate O'Brien.

Shandling was a longtime friend of Jerry Seinfeld. In 2016, two months before his death, he appeared on Seinfeld's show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Personal life

In 1976, Shandling was involved in a car crash in Encino that left him in critical condition for two days and hospitalized for two weeks with a crushed spleen. While in the hospital, he had a near-death experience and later said, "I had a vivid near-death experience that involved a voice asking, 'Do you want to continue leading Garry Shandling's life?' Without thinking, I said, 'Yes.' Since then, I've been stuck living in the physical world while knowing, without a doubt, that there's something much more meaningful within it all. That realization is what drives my life and work." The accident inspired him to pursue a career in comedy, He shared an apartment with his fiancée, actress Linda Doucett, from 1987 until they split in 1994. He subsequently had her dismissed from The Larry Sanders Show, and she filed a lawsuit against his production company Brillstein Entertainment Partners for sexual discrimination and wrongful termination. The case was settled out of court in 1997 for $1 million.

Although Doucett sued him and the show's producer, when Shandling died Doucett shared some details of their time together, including that the only reason they split in 1994 was that he didn't want to enlarge his family. She was in her late 30s and early 40s during their relationship, she wanted children, and Shandling was afraid his children might be born with cystic fibrosis, the genetic problem that killed his brother Barry. However, he later stated in a 1998 interview by Charlie Rose that he was still contemplating the possibility of having children.

Shandling and Sharon Stone were students of acting coach Roy London and dated briefly, and she appeared on The Larry Sanders Show in the episode "The Mr. Sharon Stone Show." They remained close friends until Shandling's death in 2016. In the documentary Special Thanks to Roy London, interviews with Stone and Shandling discuss their relationship. A Los Angeles Times article reads:

Shandling preferred to reveal little about his personal life during interviews. He was a Buddhist who enjoyed meditating, playing basketball, and boxing four times per week. He was also a licensed amateur radio operator. Starting as a teenager, he held the callsigns WA7BKG, KD6OY, and KQ6KA. The latter he held with a pseudonym, Dave Waddell, to avoid undue attention when he operated.

Death and aftermath On March 24, 2016 Shandling died from pulmonary thrombosis, a blood clot that traveled from his leg to his lungs. He died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 66. The LAPD reported that he had suddenly collapsed in his home and was rushed to the hospital, suffering from an apparent medical emergency. When paramedics arrived, he was unconscious. He had felt unwell during a trip to Hawaii and had complained to a doctor about shortness of breath and leg pain. Shandling had suffered from hyperparathyroidism, a disease which often goes undiagnosed or untreated.

Shandling left behind a liquid estate worth around $668,000, which was given to his lawyer and best friend Bill Isaacson, as Shandling had no family or relatives. However, the bulk of his wealth was held in a private trust he had created.

Awards and nominations During his four-decade career, Shandling was nominated for 19 Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

Additionally, Shandling won two British Comedy Awards, 12 CableACE Awards two Satellite Award nominations, and in 2004, he was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 1993 The Night We Never Met Mr. Vertisey Uncredited 1994 Love Affair Kip DeMay Mixed Nuts Stanley 1998 Dr. Dolittle Male Pigeon (voice) Hurlyburly Artie 2000 What Planet Are You From? Harold Anderson Also producer, writer 2001 Town & Country Griffin Morris Zoolander Himself Cameo 2002 Run Ronnie Run! The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch 2005 Trust the Man Dr. Beekman 2006 Over the Hedge Verne (voice) Hammy's Boomerang Adventure Short 2010 Iron Man 2 Senator Stern 2011 The Brain Storm Garry Shandling Short 2012 The Dictator Health Inspector Uncredited cameo 2014 Captain America: The Winter Soldier Senator Stern 2016 The Jungle Book Ikki (voice) Posthumous release (final film role), dedicated in memory Dying Laughing Himself Posthumous release (final film appearance) 2018 The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling Posthumous release (documentary)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1979 Make Me Laugh Himself Comedy game show 1984 Garry Shandling: Alone in Vegas Stand-up special 1985 Michael Nesmith in Television Parts Skits in 2 episodes 1986 The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special Garry Shandling Parody of a The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson-type anniversary 1986–1987 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Himself (guest host) 7 episodes; June and October 1986, January and September 1987 1986–1990 It's Garry Shandling's Show Garry Shandling 72 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer 1987 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Garry Shandling/Los Lobos" 1990 Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme Jack Television film 32nd Annual Grammy Awards Himself (host) Television special 1991 33rd Annual Grammy Awards Garry Shandling: Stand-Up Himself Stand-up special 1992 The Ben Stiller Show Garry Shandling Episode: "With Garry Shandling" 1992–1998 The Larry Sanders Show Larry Sanders 89 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer, director 1993 35th Annual Grammy Awards Himself (host) Television special 1994 36th Annual Grammy Awards 1996 Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist Garry (voice) Episode: "Sticky Notes" 1998 Caroline in the City Steve Episode: "Caroline and the Marriage Counselor: Part 2" 2000 The X-Files Himself Episode: "Hollywood A.D." 52nd Primetime Emmy Awards Himself (host) Television special 2002 My Adventures in Television Himself Episode: "Death Be Not Pre-Empted" 2004 56th Primetime Emmy Awards Himself (host) Television special 2006 Tom Goes to the Mayor Captain Pat Lewellen (voice) Episode: "Couple's Therapy" 2007–2009 Real Time with Bill Maher Himself 4 episodes; 101 (2007), 129, 135 (both 2008), and 172 (2009) 2016 Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Episode: "It's Great That Garry Shandling Is Still Alive"

As writer Year Title Notes 1975–1976 Sanford and Son 4 episodes 1976 Welcome Back, Kotter Episode: "Horshack vs. Carvelli" 1978 The Harvey Korman Show Episode: "The One Where Harvey Won't Change"

Books Confessions of a Late-Night Talk-show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders'' was written in-character as Larry Sanders by Shandling with David Rensin. It was released on October 4, 1999, and was the topic of season five's episode "The Book".