45 Facts About Garry Shandling

1.

Garry Emmanuel Shandling was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer.

2.

Garry Shandling made a successful stand-up performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson where he became a frequent guest host.

3.

Garry Shandling was, for a time, considered the leading contender to replace Johnny Carson.

4.

In 1986, he created It's Garry Shandling's Show, which aired on Showtime.

5.

Garry Shandling's second show, The Larry Sanders Show, began airing on HBO in 1992.

6.

Garry Shandling was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1998, along with Peter Tolan, for writing the series finale.

7.

Garry Shandling lent his voice to Verne the turtle in Over the Hedge.

8.

Garry Shandling served as host of the Grammy Awards four times and as host of the Emmy Awards two times.

9.

Garry Emmanuel Shandling was born into a Jewish family in Chicago on November 29,1949, the son of pet store proprietor Muriel Estelle and print shop owner Irving Shandling.

10.

Garry Shandling grew up in the Casa Loma Estates area of Tucson, Arizona, having moved there with his family so that his older brother Barry could receive treatment for cystic fibrosis.

11.

When Garry Shandling was 19, he drove two hours to a club in Phoenix and showed some jokes to George Carlin, who was performing there.

12.

Garry Shandling wrote scripts for the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and attended a story meeting for Three's Company.

13.

In 1978, Garry Shandling performed his first stand-up routine at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

14.

Garry Shandling 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.

15.

Garry Shandling's onstage persona was an anxiety-ridden, nervous, uptight, conservative man on the verge of a breakdown.

16.

Garry Shandling substituted for Carson on a regular basis until 1987, when he left to focus on his cable show, leaving Jay Leno as permanent guest host and Carson's eventual successor.

17.

In 1991, a third special, Garry Shandling: Stand-Up, was part of the HBO Comedy Hour.

18.

Garry Shandling won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performance in a Series; and four CableACE awards, two for Best Comedy Series.

19.

In 1992, Garry Shandling launched another critical and commercial success by creating the mock behind-the-scenes talk show sitcom The Larry Sanders Show, which ran for 89 episodes through to 1998 on HBO.

20.

Garry Shandling based the series on his experiences guest-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

21.

Garry Shandling was offered The Late Late Show, but declined in favor of continuing The Larry Sanders Show.

22.

Garry Shandling wrote 38 episodes of the series and directed three in its final season.

23.

Garry Shandling was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the series: five for acting, seven for writing, and six for being co-executive producer with Brad Grey.

24.

Garry Shandling won two American Comedy Awards for Funniest Male Performance in a Comedy Series, eight CableACE Awards, and a BAFTA Award.

25.

In October 2012, Garry Shandling returned with fellow cast members from The Larry Sanders Show for Entertainment Weekly's Reunions issue, where he was reunited with co-stars Rip Torn, Jeffrey Tambor, Sarah Silverman, Penny Johnson Jerald, Wallace Langham and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

26.

Garry Shandling hosted the Grammy Awards in 1990,1991,1993 and 1994.

27.

Garry Shandling hosted the Emmy Awards in 2000 and 2004, and co-hosted in 2003.

28.

Garry Shandling appeared occasionally in films, beginning with a cameo as Mr Vertisey in The Night We Never Met.

29.

Garry Shandling had supporting roles in Love Affair and Mixed Nuts; Dr Dolittle, as the voice of a live-action pigeon; the David Rabe play adaptation Hurlyburly ; and Trust the Man.

30.

Garry Shandling appeared in a brief cameo in Zoolander.

31.

Again voicing an animal, Garry Shandling co-starred as Verne in Over the Hedge, which became one of his best-known roles.

32.

Garry Shandling appeared in Iron Man 2 as Senator Stern, and reprised the role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

33.

Garry Shandling appeared in an uncredited cameo as a health inspector in The Dictator.

34.

Garry Shandling starred as himself representing Fox Mulder, alongside Tea Leoni as Dana Scully in The X-Files season 7 spoof episode "Hollywood AD".

35.

In February 2010, Garry Shandling was staying at the same Waipio Valley hotel that Conan O'Brien checked into after his departure from The Tonight Show.

36.

In 1977, Garry Shandling was involved in a car crash in Beverly Hills that left him in critical condition for two days and hospitalized for two weeks with a crushed spleen.

37.

Garry Shandling shared an apartment with his fiancee, actress Linda Doucett, from 1987 until they split in 1994.

38.

Garry Shandling was in her late 30s and early 40s during their relationship, wanted children, and Shandling was afraid his kids might be born with cystic fibrosis, the genetic problem that killed his brother Barry.

39.

Garry Shandling preferred to reveal little about his personal life during interviews.

40.

Garry Shandling was a Buddhist who enjoyed meditating, playing basketball, and boxing four times per week.

41.

Garry Shandling co-owned a boxing gym in Santa Monica, TSB 44, with actor and director Peter Berg.

42.

Garry Shandling suffered from hyperparathyroidism, a serious disease which often goes undiagnosed or untreated.

43.

Garry Shandling left behind a liquid estate worth around $668,000, which was given to his lawyer and best friend Bill Isaacson, as Garry Shandling had no family or relatives.

44.

Additionally, Shandling won two British Comedy Awards, twelve CableACE Awards, a BAFTA Award and was nominated for two Writers Guild of America Awards for The Larry Sanders Show.

45.

Garry Shandling received three American Comedy Awards, two Satellite Award nominations, and in 2004, he was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award.