Comedy great Dom DeLuise dead at 75

LOS ANGELES, May 5 (UPI) -- Comedy icon Dom DeLuise, a supporting player in dozens of film classics and father of three well-known actors, died in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 75.

"Access Hollywood" said it confirmed the New York native died Monday night.

Usmagazine.com said he had been hospitalized due to kidney failure and respiratory problems and CNN reported he had been battling cancer for more than a year at the time of his death.

DeLuise's film credits included numerous collaborations with either Burt Reynolds or Mel Brooks, including "The Cannonball Run," "The Cannonball Run II," "Smokey and the Bandit II," "The End," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Blazing Saddles," "History of the World Part I" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights."

In addition to his movie work, DeLuise was a popular pitchman on TV commercials and the host of a brief "Candid Camera" revival in the early 1990s. He also wrote several cookbooks and children's books.

He is survived by his wife, actress Carol Arthur, and their television-star sons Peter, Michael and David.