I was seldom a fan of Mr. DeLuise’s work. I tend not to much enjoy practitioners of the antic comic school, such as Robin Williams, Jonathon Winters, or most relevantly here, perhaps, Joe Besser. Most of all, I found little amusing in Mr. DeLuise’s sidekick-to-Burt-Reynolds period–from either side of that partnership–and remain profoundly relieved that Mr. DeLuise didn’t appear in my beloved Smokey and the Bandit. Although I believe he was in one of the no doubt horrible sequels.
Still and all, as I’ve observed before, one of the few bits of wisdom I’ve gleaned over the years is to accept that people find funny what they find funny. I may not have generally enjoyed Mr. DeLuise’s stuff, but tens, possibly hundreds, of millions of people worldwide derived amusement and even joy from his work. In the end, that’s really not a bad thing to be remembered for.
Mr. DeLuise was 75.
