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LOS ANGELES - Actor, comedian and chef Dom DeLuise has died after a long battle with cancer.
DeLuise died in Santa Monica Monday night surrounded by family, according to his son Michael DeLuise who spoke to radio station KNX.
He passed away peacefully in his sleep around 6:30 p.m., he said.
DeLuise was nominated for a Golden Globe and starred in classics such as "The Cannonball Run" and "Spaceballs."
DeLuise often played comedic roles and appeared on the big screen alongside Burt Reynolds in the 1970s and 1980s.
Reynolds released the following statement Tuesday after learning about DeLuise's death:
"I was thinking the other day about this. As you get older you think about this more and more, I was dreading this moment. Dom always made everyone feel better when he was around. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much. "
DeLuise was perhaps best known as a regular in Mel Brooks' films.
"To know Dom was to love him and I knew him very well. Not only was he talented and extremely funny, but he was a very special human being," said actress Carol Burnett, who starred with DeLuise on TV show "The Entertainers" in the '60s. DeLuise also appeared on "The Carol Burnett Show" in the '70s.
Other TV credits included appearances on such shows as "The Munsters," "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.," "Burke's Law," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Diagnosis Murder."
On Broadway, DeLuise appeared in Neil Simon's "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and other plays.
He was an avid chef and wrote several books on cooking.
Because of his passion for food, the actor battled obesity throughout much of his life, his weight reaching as much as 325 pounds at one point. For years he resisted the efforts of family members and doctors who tried to put him on various diets. He finally agreed in 1993 when he needed hip replacement surgery and his doctor refused to perform it until he lost 100 pounds.
DeLuise is survived by his wife and three sons.
He was 75.
