NEEDLES, Calif. -- Shock-comic Sam Kinison, a former preacher who gained fame by glorifying sex and drugs with a fire-and-brimstone fervor, died in a head-on car crash while en route to a gig in Nevada, officials said Saturday.
His bride of five days was seriously hurt in the accident.
Kinison, 38, suffered the fatal injuries about 7:30 p.m. Friday when his 1990 Pontiac Trans-Am and a pickup truck collided head-on on Highway 95 about 3 miles north of Needles, the California Highway Patrol said. The desert community is on the California-Nevada border about 250 miles east of Los Angeles.
At the time of the accident, the comic and his wife, Malika, were driving north on Highway 95. They were followed by a van carrying Kinison's brother and manager, Bill Kinison, the comedian's friend and opening act, Carl LaBove, and personal assistant, Majid Khoury, said Kinison's publicist Florence Troutman.
Kinison was on his way to open a two-night date at the Riverside Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nev., later Friday night, she said.
Kinison suffered a broken neck and other injuries in the crash, Troutman said. He was pronounced dead at Needles Desert Community Hospital.
His wife was listed in serious but stable condition at the hospital Saturday, a spokeswoman said.
The driver of the pickup truck, a teenage boy who was not identified, was arrested shortly after the accident, CHP Sgt. Don Woelke said.
'The 17-year-old has been taken into custody. At this time, he is being charged with vehicular manslaughter,' Woelke said. 'The case is still under investigation, as we're still piecing things together at this time.'
Woelke said the youth was attempting to pass another car and crossed over the center divider and into Kinison's lane, slamming into the comedian's car head-on. Another person in the pickup also was not identified.
Kinison, a former Pentecostal preacher who grew up in Peoria, Ill., took up comedy about 10 years ago, and quickly earned a cult following. As his popularity grew, he graduated from small comedy clubs to large venues and television.
His profanity-laden jokes, punctuated by primal screams, often glorified sex, drugs and Rock 'n' Roll. At the same time he derided woman, homosexuals and Christianity. Once lamenting on how the AIDS epidemic has changed his lifestyle of excess, Kinison said, 'I miss having sex with strangers.'
He made guest appearances on the Fox TV series 'Married, With Children,' and NBC's 'Saturday Night Live.' During one of his 'Saturday Night Live' appearances, network censors pulled the plug in the middle of a routine on drug use.
Following the incident, Kinison claimed he was banned from the late- night talk show circuit because his humor was considered too controversial.
He made a return 'Saturday Night Live' appearance with a tamer routine, and continued to pack the halls for live concerts. He recently co-started with Tim Mattheson in the Fox Television series 'Charlie Hoover.'
Kinison also was an accomplished singer and guitarist. He socialized with a Rock 'n' Roll crowd, appeared on the cover of 'Rolling Stone' magazine, and his followers often resembled a band of rock groupies.
'We've lost a genius of a comedian, and we're all going to miss him, ' Bill Kinison said. 'Things were about to take off for my brother. We were going to sign sign a two-movie deal on Tuesday.'
'The legion of loyal fans that Sam built in just the five or six years of his career, with limited but growing exposure, is a testament to his genius as a stand-up,' he said. 'It shows you how committed his fans were.'
The comedian had married for the third time last Sunday in Las Vegas, Nev., Troutman said. Kinison and his 27-year-old wife had returned Friday morning from a short honeymoon in Hawaii, she said.
'Sam got married last Sunday and I sat in the chapel and watched him get married,' Troutman said.
'I watched Sam with tears pouring down his face. He was very, very happy. It was a wonderful time of his life.'
'Sam Kinison, the man, had the biggest heart I've ever met in my life,' said Troutman, who was the comedian's publicist for five years.
Funeral services were pending, but Troutman said Kinison would probably be buried in Tulsa, Okla., where his mother lives and where his father and brother are buried.