Gilbert Gottfried’s ‘Dracula Gottfried’ Was ‘So Good,’ Howard Stern Recalls
Comedian Howard Stern recalled Gilbert Gottfried’s comedic genius, specifically loving his Dracula Gottfried bit, which hedged on being obscene.
“Gilbert was the quickest human being on the planet,” Stern said in a clip he shared on Instagram. “When he would do Dracula Gottfried on our show, I would say to him, ‘Gilbert. Do Dracula Gottfried! If he wanted to do Dracula Gottfried, he’d do Dracula Gottfried.”
“And I said to him, you would be a hit on any sketch if you just did Dracula Gottfried!” Stern added. “But he didn’t care. But it was so good.”
Gilbert Gottfried was naturally funny, Howard Stern recalled
Stern shared on a recent show that Gottfried made more than 100 appearances on The Howard Stern Show. “I thought Gilbert was one of the most naturally funny, most gifted human beings on the planet,” Stern remarked. ”I always loved having Gilbert on the show and he was always funny.”
“There’s a reason I had him on 122 times,” he said. “He was always funny.”
Stern recalled how he tried to get Gottfried to go for a number of roles. “I tried so many times to put him in different things because I was convinced Gilbert could be the greatest superstar on the planet if he would just take a little direction,” he recalled. “But Gilbert was not up for it.”
He had so much potential to realize too
Stern marveled at how Gottfried had such a raw, natural talent. And how Stern envisioned so much more for the beloved comic. “I thought Gilbert was one of the most naturally funny, most gifted human being on the planet,” he said. “And for a while, I was actually under the delusion that I could produce him, that I could turn him into the world’s most successful comic because he had such natural talent.”
So Stern was “always frustrated with Gilbert,” he recalled. “He was the most talented human being on the planet, but I also felt like he just marched to the beat of his own drum.” And added, “He wouldn’t bend his act depending on his crowd.”
“It was mostly teenage girls with their moms who went to see the Go-Go,” Stern recounted. “They told him ‘Look, you got to clean up your act for this — they lectured him like I used to lecture him — and of course, he went out, took a look at the crowd, and started doing – most vile jokes.”
Gilbert Gottfried died at age 67
Gottfried died at age 67 on April 12. Gottfried’s publicist, Glenn Schwartz shared that Gottfried died after a “long illness” due to Recurrent Ventricular Tachycardia due to Myotonic Dystrophy type II (via NBC News), a form of muscular dystrophy.
His family also released a statement.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness,” Gottfried’s family shared in a tweet. “In addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend, and father to his two young children.
The family added, “Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbert’s honor. Love, the Gottfried family.”
