G
ilbert Gottfried, the
comic with a grating
persona, has died.
His family announced
Gottfried’s passing “after a
long illness” on April 12, 2022,
on Twitter. He was 67. Various
outlets reported he suffered
from a heart condition related
to myotonic dystrophy.
A 2017 documentary
revealed that contra his foul-
mouthed routine, Gottfried
was a sweet and loving Jewish
dad.
Gottfried was reluctant to
let that truth get out. “I was
too much of a wimp to say
no” to the filmmaker, Neil
Berkeley, he said.
Gottfried, who affected a
high nasal voice for his comic
appearances, was a boundary
crosser, and it got him into
trouble at times. In 1991, Fox
apologized after Gilbert, host-
ing the Emmy awards, kept
joking about fellow comic Pee-
wee Herman’s recent arrest
for masturbating in an adult
movie theater.
That dampened Gottfried’s
career — for a while. He con-
tinued to score gigs in movies,
on talk radio (frequently with
Howard Stern), on sketch
shows and sitcoms, and as a
voice on cartoons. He was the
funny animal sidekick, Iago
the parrot, in Disney’s Aladdin.
Then he famously told per-
haps the first joke about the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, just a
few days after terrorists piloted
airplanes into the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
“I’ve always said tragedy
and comedy are roommates,
”
Gottfried told Vulture in 2019.
“Wherever tragedy’s around,
comedy’s a few feet behind
them sticking his tongue out
and making obscene gestures.
”
Aflac, the insurer whose
trademark duck Gottfried
voiced and which was his most
lucrative gig, dropped him in
2011 after he made jokes on
Twitter about the tsunami in
Japan. “I don’t regret the joke,
”
he told JTA. “I regret losing
the money.
”
Gottfried credited his wife
for turning him around from
a notoriously parsimonious
bachelor into an attentive dad
who walked his two kids to
Hebrew school. He met Dara
Kravitz, a music executive, in
the late 1990s at a Grammys
party he was attending because
of the free food. She dropped
food on the table, and he
picked it up and put it on his
plate.
Gottfried grew up in secular
Jewish home in Brooklyn —
he told JTA his Jewish knowl-
edge was limited to “I know
that if we’re ever rounded up
again, I’ll be on the train.
”
When he and Dara married
in 2007, she insisted on a
wedding under a chuppah and
raising their children with a
Jewish education.
His family, in their message,
appealed to the public to keep
Gottfried’s love for humor in
mind. “
Although today is a sad
day for all of us, please keep
laughing as loud as possible in
Gilbert’s honor,
” the message
said.
Gilbert Gottfried
Dies at 67
RON KAMPEAS JTA.ORG
APRIL 21 • 2022 | 69
Shatzman; great-grandchildren,
Emerson, Lulu; loving caregivers,
Latrice and Gloria; other relatives
and friends. In memory of her
dog, the late Chichi.
Iris was the beloved wife of the
late Leo Rosen; cherished daugh-
ter of the late Kay and the late
Louis Topor; dear sister of the late
Susan Topor.
Contributions may be made
to JARC, 6735 Telegraph Road,
Suite 100, Bloomfield Hills, MI
48301; or to a charity of one’s
choice. A funeral service was
held at Hebrew Memorial Park.
Interment took place at Hebrew
Memorial Park. Arrangements by
Hebrew Memorial Chapel.
CARL STEGER, 96,
formerly of Detroit of
Sarasota, Fla., passed
away March 31, 2022.
He was a longtime
entertainment fixture
in the Detroit area for decades,
and one of his biggest fans was
the late Danny Raskin. Danny
wrote of Carl many times in his
“Best of Everything” columns.
Once, he observed, “Carl Steger
thrives on the 88 ivories and it
seems to put renewed vigor in
him as time goes by.
” Mr. Steger
was best noted for his style of
interweaving familiar names and
places in his songs.
He is survived by his beloved
wife, Carol; children, Dawn (Ron)
Davey, Todd Steger, Scott (Jorge
Bardowell) Steger, Kim (Wayne)
Sherrill, Tim (Mimi) Steger and
Ann (Tom) Goshorn; 11 grand-
children; five great-grandchildren.
HAROLD SUCHER,
formerly of Detroit,
passed away peace-
fully on April 11,
2022, at the age of 96.
He was born on
Feb. 22, 1926, in Detroit to Feige
and Benjamin Sucher. Harold
served in the U.S. Army from
1944-46 and participated in the
occupation of Japan. He and his
wife, Janet, the mother of his chil-
dren married on July 11, 1945.
Harold built a successful gas
station and trailer rental business
in Detroit, beginning in 1947,
moved the family to Farmington
in 1956 and retired in 1988 at age
62; he then enjoyed 34 years of
adventurous retirement.
Harold was an avid world
traveler, having visited all seven
continents. He enjoyed mountain
climbing and hiking, including
climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro at age
60. He loved music, particularly
Frank Sinatra and the song “My
Way,
” which describes how he
led his life. He was an avid jog-
ger (well into his 80s) and loved
horseback riding. During his
many trips to Las Vegas, the high-
light was attending a New Year’s
Eve Barbra Streisand concert (her
return to the stage after 22 years,
in 1994).
Mr. Sucher is survived by his
three children, Michel (Susanne)
Sucher, Barbara (Yitzhak) Ben-Zvi
and Benjamin (Eugenia) Sucher.
He is also survived by his three
grandchildren, Erin (Danny)
Merritt, Britton (Jesse Newmark)
Schwartz and Sara Lewin; four
great-grandchildren, Jalen,
Sonora, Reina and Olivia; and his
loving and devoted companion
and friend, Adelle Abrahams.
He was predeceased by his
parents; his sister, Edith; wife,
Janet; and his second wife, Phyllis;
numerous uncles, aunts and first
cousins. Harold was the oldest
ever living Sucher and he truly
had “nine lives,
” cheating death in
a plane crash, in a car crash, from
prostate cancer and multiple other
close calls.
The family wishes to give
a special thanks to Valentine
Gradinariu and the staff at Simply
Together, who provided such lov-
ing care to their father during the
last two years of his life. Thanks
also extend to American Premier
Hospice, Dr. Jorge Chavez and his
professional staff for the comfort
and compassion they provided.
Gilbert Gottfried at SiriusXM
Studios in New York City,
Feb. 3, 2020.
SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY IMAGES FOR SIRIUSXM