Dick Capri, the comedian and actor, has died. He was 93.
After spending his final Christmas with his family, Capri succumbed to a bleeding enlarged aorta, dying in his sleep in the early hours of Thursday, Dec. 26 in Florida.
“The world is not as funny today as it was yesterday,” the comedian’s son Jeff told TMZ, explaining that his father knew his time was limited as the aorta was deemed inoperable due to his age.
Spending the holiday with his son, daughter-in-law and life partner, Dick FaceTimed with loved ones out of town and enjoyed a meal from his favorite restaurant before his death.
Born Richard Crupi in Reading, Pennsylvania, Dick began performing stand-up comedy in the ’60s, with appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, before embarking on tour with Englebert Humperdinck in 1973, which took him to Radio City Music Hall and venues across the world.
Dick Capri roasts Drew Carey in ‘The New York Friars Club Celebrity Roast of Drew Carey’ on Oct. 2, 1998. (Al Pereira/Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archives)
Working with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli and Tom Jones, Dick performed comedy for Presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush. He also appeared in The NY Friars Club Roast of Drew Carey, airing on Comedy Central in 1998.
Dick appeared in the James Orr/Johnny Yune-helmed slapstick comedy They Still Call Me Bruce (1987) before making his Broadway debut in Catskills on Broadway at Lunt-Fontanne Theater in 1991.