On Friday night, reports started coming in on social media that comedian Kevin Meaney had died.
The news was quickly confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, who reached out to Meaney's agent. The agent said that the comedian was found dead in his home, and that an autopsy is pending.
Kevin Meaney got his start as a comic in San Francisco and Boston. It was in the latter city, in the 1970s, that he first met many of his peers who, like him, would gain national reputations during the comedy boom of the 1980s. That crew included Jay Leno, Bobcat Goldthwait, Lenny Clarke, Steven Wright, and Steve Sweeney. They all polished their acts in a small room in the back of a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge called the Ding-Ho. That club was co-founded by the comic Barry Crimmins, who today paid tribute to his late friend Meaney.
Meaney first broke into the mainstream with a 1986 HBO special, and quickly became known for material about his family, especially his mother.
In addition to his career as a stand-up, Meaney appeared on TV shows such as Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Rocko's Modern Life. He also performed on Broadway for years in the musical Hairspray.
It was his time on Broadway that gave Meaney the courage to come out as gay, which he did in a 2008 radio interview.
Below are tributes to Meaney by some of the biggest names in comedy, including Judd Apatow and Steve Carell.
Up until the end, Meaney was cracking jokes. In fact, his very last tweet had some comical advice for Hillary Clinton.
That's not right, indeed. Rest in peace, Kevin.
