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In Remembrance: Richard Jeni
 Richard Jeni,
the standup comic who appeared in a small number of acting roles,
has passed away on March 10, 2007 in West Hollywood, CA. He was 49.
Born
Richard John Colangelo in Brooklyn,
NY, Jeni grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst and
graduated from New York City’s Hunter College with a Bachelor’s
Degree in Political Science.
Although his
first national television exposure came in 1988 when he appeared on
HBO’s 12th Annual Young Comedians Special, he
received his first big break with his comedy concert Richard Jeni:
The Boy From New York City, which aired on the Showtime cable
network in 1990. The special would win three CableACE awards. His
follow-up special, 1992’s Crazy From The Heat, became
Showtime’s highest-rated stand-up special. Later that year, he
debuted another stand-up special on HBO, Platypus Man, which
won a CableACE award. The special also served as the basis for his
television series of the same name which ran for one season on the
UPN network. In 1993, jeni was voted the funniest male stand-up
comic at the American Comedy Awards.
Jeni made his
big screen debut with a small role in director Clint Eastwood’s 1988
Charlie Parker biopic Bird. His next screen role was
considerable larger, playing Jim Varey’s best friend in the 1994 hit
comedy The Mask. Instead of following his appearance in
The Mask with more film roles, he appeared in his Platypus
Man television series and worked predominantly in television for
the rest of his career. He would appear numerous times on The
Tonight Show and be featured in two more comedy specials for
HBO. Jeni also contributed material for fellow comic Chris Rock’s
hosting duties at the 2005 Academy Awards.
Jeni briefly
returned to the big screen in 1998 for an appearance in the
disappointing comedy An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn.
He also appeared in the 2005 dirty joke documentary The
Aristocrats. |
