Seinfeld Actor John Pinette Found Dead in Hotel Room
Actor John Pinette, who acted in arguably the most popular U.S. TV series of all time - Seinfeld, was found dead in a hotel on Sunday April 6. The office of the medical examiner at the Allegheny County confirmed the death on Monday.
The 50-year-old comedian reportedly died of "natural causes," CNN reported. There is not going to be any autopsy as Pinette's personal physician has already signed the death certificate. Pinette was apparently being treated for the medical problem which eventually took his life. TMZ reported that there was no "foul play" suspected after Pinette was found dead in the Pittsburgh hotel. He suffered from heart and liver issues. He recovered from his prescribed drug addiction until August 2013.
Pinette appeared in the finale episode of "Seinfeld," called "The Good Samaritan." He played a fat man who was robbed on the street. Jerry Seinfeld (played by himself), along with his famous on-screen friends Cosmo Kramer (played by Michael Richards), George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) and Elaine Benes (played Julia Louis-Dreyfus); stood there without helping the "fat man." Kramer, in fact, recorded the incident the incident on his camcorder. They were arrested for not helping the victim under the "Good Samaritan" law.
Pinette overcame his earlier addictive problems and became "sober", according to Larry Schapiro - his manager. While he earlier weighed around 450 pounds, he went through a dramatic weight-loss and eventually became 250 pounds. Mr Schapiro said that Pinette was planning a comedy set on his weight-loss called "The Call Me Slim." He thought of opening the act with "You know how they say in every fat person there's a skinny person waiting to come out? Well, mine came out, and mine was fat."
Pinette was in the middle of a tour to Canada and the U.S., scheduled between April and June, when he passed away. He also worked in films like The Last Godfather and The Punisher. However, he will probably be best known for appearing on Seinfeld.
Watch him in Seinfeld here.