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5 articles from 2007

2 July 2007 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Comedian Richard Jeni was suffering mental illness before he committed suicide last year, a coroner's report has revealed. The star shot himself in the head at his Hollywood home in March 2006. Shortly after his death, Jeni's family revealed he had been diagnosed with "severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia". A report from Los Angeles County coroner's officer now reveals he had a history of mental illness and was hospitalized last year suffering from suicidal depression. The report also reveals he had a history of schizophrenia and had taken antidepressants and a sleeping aid before he died. Although he had made no known suicide attempts in the past, the report claims Jeni's girlfriend heard him talking to himself, a week before his death, saying "just squeeze the trigger."

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14 March 2007 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Tragic comedian Richard Jeni's family have confirmed the funnyman took his own life as he struggled with severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia. Jeni's family released a statement yesterday in an effort to end speculation about the comedian's death on Saturday. The statement begins, "The family of Richard Jeni would like to put to rest any assumptions as to the cause of Richard's death. Despite the fact that the coroner's office has publicly stated that a suicide ruling will take two weeks, pending the results of an autopsy, Richard Jeni did take his own life." In the statement, Jeni's family reveal the comic was not, as reported, depressed after a series of professional disappointments, insisting he "had just enjoyed one of his most financially rewarding years to date." The statement reads, "The past few years had been more prolific than ever. As his agents can attest, prior to his illness, Richard only missed one engagement in over 20, and that was due to weather. The truth is earlier this year Richard Jeni was diagnosed with severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia. One only needs to have a family member or friend with a mental illness to understand that there is nothing rational, predictable, or fair about these diseases... He was not down or blue, he was ill."

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13 March 2007 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

US talk show king Jay Leno has paid tribute to tragic comedian Richard Jeni after the comic was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Saturday. Jeni appeared on Leno's The Tonight Show more than any other guest, and the TV host admits he was stunned to hear of the funnyman's suspected suicide. In a statement, Leno says, "I was totally shocked. He was a great comic... a great guy. He had an everyman kind of appeal, he was a kid from New York and his comedy was that of a kid from New York... He just made me laugh. Whenever I watched Richard, I'd go, 'Man, I wish I had his material.'"

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12 March 2007 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Stand-up comic Richard Jeni, a frequent guest on the Tonight show and the star of several HBO comedy specials, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Saturday. Jeni was also the star of one of UPN's first sitcoms in 1995, Platypus Man, based on his award-winning HBO special. He played the host of a TV cooking show aimed at "any guy who ever tried to make tuna fish on toast and wound up in the burn unit with mayonnaise in his hair."

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12 March 2007 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Comedian Richard Jeni, who appeared frequently on the Tonight show and headlined a number of HBO comedy specials, died Saturday in Los Angeles in what appeared to be a suicide; he was 49. Jeni died of a gunshot wound to the head, an hour after police responded to a 911 call from the comedian's girlfriend and he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital. A final confirmation of suicide was still pending Monday morning, after further investigation of the incident and an autopsy. Born Richard John Colangelo in Brooklyn, Jeni found national fame in 1990 with his first Showtime cable TV special, The Boy From New York City, which won three Cable ACE awards. He followed up two years later with Crazy From the Heat, which became Showtime's highest-rated comedy stand-up show at the time. In 1992, Jeni moved from Showtime to HBO, starring in Platypus Man, a special which won another Cable ACE award and nabbed him a sitcom deal with the fledgling UPN network. In the early 90s Jeni also began making numerous appearances on the Tonight show, first with Johnny Carson and then with Jay Leno hosting, and toured nationally with his stand-up act. In addition to his stand-up comedy work, Jeni appeared in a number of films, including The Mask alongside Jim Carrey and the recent documentary The Aristocrats. A friend of comedian Chris Rock, Jeni also appeared on Rock's UPN sitcom Everyone Hates Chris and wrote material for Rock's hosting job for the 2005 Academy Awards; his most recent TV special was A Big Steaming Pile of Me, which aired in 2005 on HBO. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff

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5 articles from 2007