John Pinette, the stand-up comedian and actor known for his weight and food-centric humor, died Saturday of natural causes having suffered a pulmonary embolism while staying at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pa. He was 50.
The Boston-born Pinette was known for his self-deprecating routine that generally focused on his weight and appetite, as illustrated by his stand-up specials titles: "Show Me the Buffett," "I'm Starvin'!" and "Still Hungry." The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office
did not perform an autopsy on Pinette, The Associated Press reported.
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In a tweet to his followers in January, Pinette wrote that he was "physically spent" having undergone several "small surgical procedures" recently.
"I didn’t give myself enough time to heal this past fall and it has caught up to me," he wrote. "But I’m on the mend and I promise to hit the stage as soon as humanly possible."
At the time of his death, Pinette was working on another stand-up project yet to be announced, according to his agent, Nick Nuciforo.
"He should be celebrated for the amazing comedian he was," Nuciforo told the AP, noting that Pinette was preparing for a stand-up tour of the U.S. and Canada.
In addition to his comic routines, Pinette also appeared in several movies, including "Junior," "The Punisher," and "My Five Wives," among others. Pinette also appeared in the TV series' "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" and "Seinfeld," in which he stood before a judge for failing to help under a "good Samaritan" law.
In addition to TV and the big screen, Pinette also performed onstage in the national tour of the musical "Hairspray," where he played the character of Edna Turnblad.
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