Published on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 - 2:35pm
Dom DeLuise
This is the only time I've failed to smile at the thought of Dom DeLuise. Since Mr. DeLuise probably wouldn't want it that way, let's do this...
That's a great scene on its own, but it plays even better in the context of the film. For eighty minutes, Mel Brooks has been throwing everything at the audience: fart jokes, sex jokes, wildly inappropriate racial jokes... he's even scored with a rape joke! But just when it appears that the film is going to devolve into a wild brawl between the townspeople and Harvey Korman's thugs, DeLuise unexpectedly shows up as catty musical director Buddy Bizarre, and he fucking kills!
That's what DeLuise did. He made every movie funnier just by stepping in front of the camera. Starting with his uproarious performance as an inept spy in Frank Tashlin's THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT, DeLuise was one of Hollywood's most reliably funny actors; whether cast in a substantial role or utilized as a walk-on scene-stealer, he was going to make you laugh one way or another. List the movies, and I'm sure you can think of one quintessential DeLuise bit: THE TWELVE CHAIRS, SILENT MOVIE, HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I, HOT STUFF, THE END, THE MUPPET MOVIE, WHOLLY MOSES!, FATSO, JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY... they weren't all classics, but DeLuise's antics elevated every single one of them.
And then there was his turn as Victor Prinzim in the Hal Needham's all-star comedy smash-up, THE CANNONBALL RUN. I was eight years old when I saw this movie in the theater, and for some inexplicable reason, whenever Victor transformed into "Captain Chaos", I was in hysterics. I mean, there was no bit there: it was just a happy, rotund fella donning tights and beating up bad guys. And yet I doubt I have ever laughed harder in my life. So for that, Mr. DeLuise, I'd like to thank you.
What were your favorite DeLuise moments?
Reader Talkback
So sad May 5th, 2009 Best DeLuise moment May 5th, 2009 Rest in peace, Mr DeLuise May 5th, 2009 don't forget haunted
honeymoon! May 5th, 2009 Sucks. I always liked him as
the Pope in J Dangerously May 5th, 2009 Bloopers May 5th, 2009 Sorry to read that May 5th, 2009 Godspeed Sir May 5th, 2009 "Watch me, faggots!" (no
offense) May 5th, 2009 My favorite DeLuise role May 5th, 2009 great line May 5th, 2009 Robin Hood: Men in Tights May 5th, 2009 Fatsy May 5th, 2009 dr sauch May 5th, 2009 Captain Chaos is dead! May 5th, 2009 Just don't go and
mention.....him. May 5th, 2009 "It's a living!" May 5th, 2009 No one mentions,...Fail
Safe... May 5th, 2009 Kessler May 5th, 2009 sigh...... May 5th, 2009 NO NO NO! May 5th, 2009 "What about The Blimp?" May 5th, 2009 RIP, Dom May 5th, 2009 Haunted Honeymoon was great May 5th, 2009 Damn shame May 5th, 2009 Itchy the dog or Jeremy the
crow May 5th, 2009 one of the funniest ever May 5th, 2009 "Not In The Face!!" May 5th, 2009 Crap, I thought the poor guy
died already... May 5th, 2009 Thanks for the laughs, Mr D May 5th, 2009 Wash THIS!!! May 5th, 2009 TREASURE BATH!!! May 5th, 2009 I guess Pizza sent out for
him. May 5th, 2009 "You know what burns my ass?" May 5th, 2009 Brilliant in Secret of Nihm
too May 5th, 2009 RIP Dom May 5th, 2009 "History of the World Part I"
was a cornerstone of my
childhood. May 5th, 2009 Loved him in History of the
World May 5th, 2009 Met him at a ihop once. May 5th, 2009 HAIL CAESAR! May 5th, 2009 Captain Chaos! May 5th, 2009 rip jeremy the crow May 5th, 2009 Gone to that big treasure bath
in the sky... May 5th, 2009 "Treasure bath! Treasure
bath!" May 5th, 2009 Loved him in SILENT MOVIE May 5th, 2009 The End May 5th, 2009 I voted for Obama May 5th, 2009 "I wanna live!"I wanna
experience the universe! And I
wanna eat May 5th, 2009 Lov you Dom - You were one of
a kind! May 5th, 2009 Cannonball Run... CHINESE
VERSION! May 5th, 2009 When Burt rips Dom's wig off May 5th, 2009 Damn, Dom May 5th, 2009 Riskebiz, agreed May 5th, 2009 Terrible Loss May 5th, 2009 God dammit... May 5th, 2009 GET DA FUCKIN' HONEY! May 5th, 2009 WALK WITH BALE May 5th, 2009 EvilWizardGlick May 5th, 2009 Cannonball Run outtakes were
hilarious. May 5th, 2009 Glick is a
Professional.....Douche May 5th, 2009 Rest in peace HIM May 5th, 2009 Another Comedic great is gone May 5th, 2009 Aughh!!!! May 5th, 2009 Dam, I'm at a loss for
words... May 5th, 2009 Rest In Pizza, Pizza the Hutt! May 5th, 2009 btw on subject May 5th, 2009 He always did great voices in
Don Bluth movies May 5th, 2009 DAAN DAAAN
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!! May 5th, 2009 People that troll in obit TBs May 5th, 2009 RIP May 5th, 2009 Why we mourn actors... May 5th, 2009 Gotta Go With The Guys Who
Said Caesar May 5th, 2009 Also, Rest in Peace Dom, May 5th, 2009 For a big guy, he lived a long
time... May 5th, 2009 RIP May 5th, 2009 Dominick the Great May 5th, 2009 I am sad he died... May 5th, 2009 "How..... do you do?" - Fievel
Goes West May 5th, 2009 Nice...nice. Not thrilling,
but nice. May 5th, 2009 Cartagia May 5th, 2009 "The End," Dom's Oscar-worthy
performance May 5th, 2009 "Did you see that cat out
there? All drippin', and, and
WET..." May 5th, 2009 Also, he was the best CANDID
CAMERA host May 5th, 2009 Dom May 5th, 2009 He was great on the Dean
Martin Show May 5th, 2009 Heaven is much funnier....... May 5th, 2009 I was just thinking about Dom
Deluise. Oddly enough.. May 5th, 2009 Him gets to meet Him May 5th, 2009 Dom was so funny. I loved that
big guy. May 5th, 2009 THE END, that's the one May 5th, 2009 His son David DeLuise is the
Dad on Wizards of Waverly
Place May 5th, 2009 Dammit!!!!!!! May 5th, 2009 am i the only one... May 5th, 2009 He had a cooking show... May 5th, 2009 Pizza the Hutt in "Spaceballs" May 5th, 2009 just wanted to add my name May 5th, 2009 I accidently gave him wrong
directions to a hospital 12
years ag May 5th, 2009 He wasn't going to catch a
plane... May 5th, 2009 they should remake the
cannonball run now !!! May 5th, 2009 Favorite moments -- when he
made May 5th, 2009 Simply, one of the best
comedians on the planet! May 5th, 2009 They should remake cannonball
run and all the cars are CGI May 5th, 2009 EvilWizardGlick... May 5th, 2009 whats up with the slaps? May 5th, 2009 That's a loving slap. It's
like when Abbott would slap
Costello May 5th, 2009 I will never forget his
voicework in The Secret of
N.I.M.H. May 5th, 2009 Sherlock Holmes Smarter
Brother May 5th, 2009 Hot Stuff May 5th, 2009 most recent: Muppet Show May 5th, 2009 "oh God you're so strict!" May 5th, 2009 Farewell Dom… May 5th, 2009 So sorry to hear about
this..... May 5th, 2009 Whenever........ May 5th, 2009 Dom DeLuise...Fucking
Professional! May 5th, 2009 Dom May 5th, 2009 R.I.P. to a funny man who made
me laugh everytime. May 5th, 2009 To Dom's Kids May 5th, 2009 I'm glad people are mentioning
him in Secret of NIMH May 5th, 2009 Hot Stuff May 5th, 2009 The END was great. May 5th, 2009 WATCH ME, FAGGOTS! May 5th, 2009 I teared up a little bit
watching Cannonball Run
outtakes. May 5th, 2009 I'm hiding behind gasOLINE!!! May 5th, 2009 Made life better May 5th, 2009 RIP the DOM May 5th, 2009 Captain Chaos R.I.P. May 5th, 2009 ok shoudl i say this? May 5th, 2009 You will be missed May 5th, 2009 Goodnight Fat Man...may you
eat pie for the rest of time. May 5th, 2009 I always laugh May 5th, 2009 "It's not high enough" May 5th, 2009 When there's no more room in
hell....................... May 5th, 2009 I love, love, LOVE DeLuise!! May 5th, 2009 History of the World Pt 1 May 5th, 2009 I said piss! Did you hear me!
I said Piss May 5th, 2009 I have to agree with dr sauchs May 5th, 2009 RIP May 5th, 2009 cant stop thinking about the
SNL SKIT May 5th, 2009 Dom SNL SKIT May 5th, 2009 R.I.P. Dom May 5th, 2009 Cannonball Run are my biggest
memories May 5th, 2009 He will be sorely missed. A
true original May 5th, 2009 Fred is deeply sad to hear of
his passing May 5th, 2009 I once banged a chick who
looked liked Dom DeLuise May 5th, 2009 I will miss Captain Chaos May 5th, 2009 Seriously....how much food did
he consume in a week? May 5th, 2009 Cannonball Run Pit Stop is
saddened May 5th, 2009 Greatly missed May 5th, 2009 Even his ad work May 5th, 2009 I looked up to him May 5th, 2009 Long live Captain Chaos May 5th, 2009 I at a fruit pie from the
vending machine in honor of
Dom.. May 5th, 2009 Dann dann dannnn!!!!!! rip Mr.
Deluise May 5th, 2009 OOoooo A Sparklie! May 5th, 2009 "There's a crazy lady with a
hat! She had big teeth, she
tied me May 5th, 2009 up!" May 5th, 2009 Burt Reynolds is a Douche for
slapping that Fat Man around. May 5th, 2009 Somebody who posted about HOT
STUFF May 5th, 2009 Favorite DeLuise moment May 5th, 2009 Bernie the Agent in THE MUPPET
MOVIE... May 5th, 2009 Bummer, Hope his sons are
doing ok May 6th, 2009 malificus: Fuck you.... May 6th, 2009 He still looks better than
Burt Reynolds May 6th, 2009 "I'm not Captain Chaos
anymore... May 6th, 2009 Dom DeLuise Tribute May 6th, 2009 Captain Chaos is dead.. May 6th, 2009 Balln the Jack! May 6th, 2009 I bow to the man May 6th, 2009 Ah man, this sucks. May 6th, 2009 Six Demon Bag May 6th, 2009 Wasn't he also in 'Smokey &
The Bandit 2'? May 6th, 2009 Thank you, Victor. May 6th, 2009 SAD! May 6th, 2009 A truly funny man May 6th, 2009 This house...is cursed! May 6th, 2009 Pure class act... Truly
PROFESSIONAL May 6th, 2009 My favorite line? From The
End.... May 6th, 2009 RIP May 6th, 2009 The movie that nobody
remembers..... May 6th, 2009 DOM DEL RIP May 6th, 2009 I'm a Pepper, You're a
Pepper... May 6th, 2009 Paul Prudhomme is going to
star as Dom in his life story. May 6th, 2009 Watch the Twelve Chairs May 6th, 2009 Always made me laugh just by
walking on screen. May 6th, 2009 Those CANNONBALL outtakes >
than 90% of comedies today May 6th, 2009 Did Burt Reynolds cry when he
found out? May 6th, 2009 "I was da leading gynecologist
in Pompei" May 6th, 2009 He even made Stargate SG-1
funny May 6th, 2009 He would have liked my iphone
app Mmm Cookies May 6th, 2009 Dom, Peter, and Michael were May 6th, 2009 He really hung in there for a
wildly overweight guy May 6th, 2009 He really hung in there for a
wildly overweight guy May 6th, 2009 Dom and Prudhomme were
separated at birth May 6th, 2009 "Sounds like steam escaping!" May 6th, 2009 Loved him as Tiger May 6th, 2009 The Magic Voyage FTW! May 6th, 2009 holy shit May 6th, 2009 Sad to Hear May 6th, 2009 ABE VIGODA LAUGHS AT YOU ALL!! May 6th, 2009 wow that's actually really
fucking sad to hear... May 6th, 2009 It took thelordofhell long
enough to chime in May 6th, 2009 Dom Deluise..The End! May 7th, 2009 RIP May 7th, 2009 pavobros and Toby_FN_Wong May 7th, 2009 Lighten up fellas May 7th, 2009 Grammaton Cleric May 7th, 2009 Very Sad May 7th, 2009 FATSO May 8th, 2009
