Garry Emmanuel Shandling was born into a Jewish family in Chicago[1] on November 29, 1949,[2] the son of pet store proprietor Muriel Estelle (née Singer) and print shop owner Irving Shandling.[3][4] He grew up in the Casa Loma Estates area ofTucson, Arizona, having moved there with his family so that his older brother Barry could receive treatment forcystic fibrosis.[1] Barry died of the disease when Shandling was 10.[5] After graduating fromPalo Verde High School, Shandling attended theUniversity of Arizona to major inelectrical engineering,[6] but instead completed a degree in marketing and pursued a year ofpostgraduate studies in creative writing.[7]
When Shandling was 19, he drove two hours to a club in Phoenix and showed some jokes toGeorge Carlin, who was performing there. The next day, on a repeat round-trip, Carlin told him that he had "funny stuff on every page" and should keep at it.[8][9] In 1973, he moved to Los Angeles and worked at an advertising agency for a time, then sold a script for the popularNBC sitcomSanford and Son.[10] He also wrote scripts for the sitcomWelcome Back, Kotter and attended a story meeting forThree's Company.[11]
Shandling said that he became a stand-up comedian because of an incident that happened one day at a story meeting forThree's Company, in which one of the show's producers complained about a line of dialogue and said, "Well,Chrissy wouldn't say that."[12][13] He recalled, "I just looked. I said, 'I don't think I can do this.' And I stopped right there and went on to perform."[14]
In 1978, Shandling performed his first stand-up routine atThe Comedy Store. A year later, he was one of the few performers tocross the picket line when a group of comedians organized a boycott against the Comedy Store, protesting ownerMitzi Shore's policy of not paying comedians to perform. According toWilliam Knoedelseder, Shandling "was the scion of a family with decidedlyantiunion views. He had not shared the struggling comic experience. He was a successful sitcom writer trying to break into stand-up, and prior to the strike, Shore had refused to put him in the regular lineup because she didn't think he was good enough. Of course, that changed the minute he crossed the picket line."[15]
Shandling's onstage persona was an anxiety-ridden, nervous, uptight, conservative man on the verge of a breakdown.[16] After a couple of years on the road, he was booked by a talent scout fromThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to appear as a guest in 1981. Shandling substituted for Carson on a regular basis until 1987,[10] when he left to focus on his cable show, leavingJay Leno as permanent guest host and Carson's eventual successor.
In 1984, Shandling performed his first stand-up special,Garry Shandling: Alone in Vegas forShowtime,[17] followed by a second televised special in 1986,The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special, also for Showtime.[18] In 1991, a third special,Garry Shandling: Stand-Up, was part of theHBO Comedy Hour.[19]
The series subverted the standard sitcom format by having its characters openly acknowledge that they were all part of a television series. Building on a concept that hearkened back toThe George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, in whichGeorge Burns would frequently break the "fourth wall" and speak directly to the audience, Shandling's series went so far as to incorporate the audience and elements of the studio itself into the storylines, calling attention to the show's artifice.[7][20]
The series was nominated for four Emmy Awards,[7] including one for Shandling. He won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performance in a Series; and four CableACE awards, two for Best Comedy Series. The show also won an award forOutstanding Achievement in Comedy from theTelevision Critics Association.[21]
In 1992, Shandling launched another critical and commercial success by creating the mock behind-the-scenes talk show sitcomThe Larry Sanders Show, which ran for 89 episodes through to 1998 onHBO. It garnered 56Emmy Award nominations and three wins. Shandling based the series on his experiences guest-hostingThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[22]
In 1993, NBC offered Shandling $5 million to take overLate Night whenDavid Letterman announced his highly publicized move toCBS, but Shandling declined. He was subsequently offeredThe Late Late Show, but also declined in favor of continuingThe Larry Sanders Show.[7][23]
In 2002,TV Guide namedThe Larry Sanders Show as 38th Greatest Show of All Time.[26] In 2008,Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 28th in the "100 best shows from 1983 to 2008" list,[27] and it was included onTime magazine's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time.[28]
The first season was re-released in 2007, along with aNot Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show, Shandling's picks of the best 23 episodes.[29]
In October 1999, Shandling, with David Rensin, publishedConfessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders, written in the voice of his alter-ego Larry Sanders.[32]
He also appeared in a brief cameo inZoolander (2001). Again voicing an animal, Shandling co-starred as Verne inOver the Hedge (2006), which became one of his best-known roles.[33] He appeared inIron Man 2 (2010) as Senator Stern, and reprised the role inCaptain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He appeared in an uncredited cameo as a health inspector inThe Dictator (2012).
In 1976, Shandling was involved in a car crash inBeverly Hills that left him in critical condition for two days and hospitalized for two weeks with a crushed spleen. While in the hospital, he had anear-death experience and later said, "I had a vivid near-death experience that involved a voice asking, 'Do you want to continue leading Garry Shandling's life?' Without thinking, I said, 'Yes.' Since then, I've been stuck living in the physical world while knowing, without a doubt, that there's something much more meaningful within it all. That realization is what drives my life and work."[41] The accident inspired him to pursue a career in comedy,[24] and he later turned the accident into part of his routine.[5]
Shandling never married and had no children.[42] He shared an apartment with his fiancée, actressLinda Doucett, from 1987 until they split in 1994.[43] He subsequently had her dismissed fromThe Larry Sanders Show, and she filed a lawsuit against his production companyBrillstein Entertainment Partners forsexual discrimination and wrongful termination. The case was settled out of court in 1997 for $1 million.[44][45]
Although Doucett did sue him and the show's producer, when Shandling died Doucett shared some details of their time together, including that the only reason they split in 1994 was that he didn't want to enlarge his family. She was in her late 30s and early 40s during their relationship, she wanted children, and Shandling was afraid his kids might be born with cystic fibrosis, the genetic problem that killed his brother Barry.[46][47]
Shandling andSharon Stone were students of acting coachRoy London and dated briefly,[48][49][50] and she appeared onThe Larry Sanders Show in the episode "The Mr. Sharon Stone Show."[51] They remained close friends until Shandling's death in 2016.[52] In the documentarySpecial Thanks to Roy London, interviews with Stone[53][54] and Shandling[55][56][57] discuss their relationship. ALos Angeles Times article reads:
His interest inZen certainly must have primed him for Roy London, the acting teacher who received a "special thanks" credit on every episode ofThe Larry Sanders Show and whom Shandling calls "the most important man ever in my life". [Shandling said] "A lot of questions I had about life and about art and psychology he had answers to. And he was guiding people in that class to eliminate everything but their essence and just be, so you're working on life and acting at the same time."[58]
Shandling preferred to reveal little about his personal life during interviews. He was aBuddhist who enjoyed meditating,[35][59][60] playing basketball,[61] and boxing four times per week.[25] He co-owned a boxing gym inSanta Monica, TSB 44 (Tough Strong Bold No. 44), with actor and directorPeter Berg.[10][62] He was also a licensed amateur radio operator. Starting as a teenager, he held the callsigns WA7BKG, KD6OY, and KQ6KA. The latter he held with a pseudonym, Dave Waddell, to avoid undue attention when he operated.[63]
Shandling died March 24, 2016 frompulmonary thrombosis, a blood clot that traveled from his leg to his lungs.[64] He died atSaint John's Health Center inSanta Monica, California at the age of 66.[65] TheLAPD reported that he had suddenly collapsed in his home and was rushed to the hospital, suffering from an apparent medical emergency.[66] When paramedics arrived, he was unconscious.[67] He had felt unwell during a trip to Hawaii and had recently complained to a doctor about shortness of breath and leg pain.[64][68]
Shandling left behind aliquid estate worth around $668,000, which was given to his lawyer and best friend Bill Isaacson, as Shandling had no family or relatives.[71] However, the bulk of his wealth was held in aprivate trust he had created.[71] On February 4, 2019, his estate bestowed $15.2 million to benefit medical research at theDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His gift established and endowed the Garry Shandling Endocrine Surgery Research Fund, the Garry Shandling Infectious Diseases Innovation Fund, and the Garry Shandling Pancreatic Diseases Fund. The remainder of the bequest established the Garry Shandling Medical Research Fund, operated under the direction of the medical school's dean. In his memory, UCLA also named a 6,400 sq ft (590 m2) multipurpose space in Geffen Hall, the school's medical education building, the Garry Shandling Learning Studio.[72]
Confessions of a Late-Night Talk-show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders was written in-character as Larry Sanders by Shandling with David Rensin.[85] It was released on October 4,1999, and was the topic of season five's episode "The Book".
^Legaspi, Althea (March 25, 2016)."Judd Apatow, Kathy Griffin Pay Tribute to Garry Shandling".Rolling Stone. RetrievedJune 2, 2021.Sharon Stone spoke of Shandling as family. "It strikes me that our family, wherever we find them, and whenever we lose them, seem to disappear with the same magical wonder that they arrive. Garry, my many things, will always be my family. His openness, and joy, his brilliance and tenderness coupled with a weird self knowledge and a respect for the peculiarities of our humanity made him a wonder to me. We met through our acting teacher Roy London who ultimately became a surrogate parent to us both," Stone said in a statement to Rolling Stone. "Roy understood immediately the astonishing talent which Garry possessed and helped him harness that into his own very powerful voice. "Garry was unafraid almost to a point of naïveté, combined with an intelligence that was off the charts, he simply said what came to mind in the best, simplest and most hilarious of ways," Stone continued. "Some of our best times were driving around talking about what we saw out the window. We would laugh until we were in tears and then half of it would end up on the Tonight Show. Sometimes he would tell me things through his jokes in the monologue; his way of handling his shyness. Right now, I can't think of anything sweeter."
^Lloyd, Robert (March 24, 2016)."From the Archives: With Garry Shandling, nothing was straightforward, including the DVD release of 'Larry Sanders Show'".Los Angeles Times. RetrievedJune 2, 2021.This story originally ran in The Times on April 15, 2007, just before the DVD release of Shandling's seminal comedy series "The Larry Sanders Show.".... His interest in Zen certainly must have primed him for Roy London, the acting teacher who received a "special thanks" credit on every episode of "The Larry Sanders Show" and whom Shandling calls "the most important man ever in my life." "A lot of questions I had about life and about art and psychology he had answers to. And he was guiding people in that class to eliminate everything but their essence and just be, so you're working on life and acting at the same time." It's possibly too much to say that there would have been no "Larry Sanders Show" without London's influence -- though while he was alive he read all the scripts and directed at least one episode -- but it would have been a different animal, not as layered, probably, or as determinedly real. On the DVD, one cast member after another testifies to Shandling's insistence on eliminating the "acting" from the "being" and to his having changed their work, careers and even lives.
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