According to multiple reports, actor, comedian, chef and cookbook author Dom DeLuise has
passed away in Los Angeles at age 75. DeLuise starred in several Mel Brooks movies, including
Blazing Saddles (above) and
Spaceballs, as well as
The End with Burt Reynolds,
The Muppet Movie and just about every TV show taped from the 1970s through the '90s. DeLuise also appeared as Melvin P. Thorpe, the character based on late Houston TV reporter
Marvin Zindler, in the 1982 film adaptation of Larry L. King's 1978 Broadway musical
The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.