Bob Einstein dies: Curb Your Enthusiasm's Marty Funkhouser and Super Dave Osborne stuntman was 76

Entertainment Weekly

Albert Brooks paid tribute to his older brother, calling him a "brilliantly funny man. You will be missed forever." Einstein was an Emmy-winning writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Van Dyke and Company who went on to play blundering stuntman Super Dave Osborne on the Showtime series Super Dave and elsewhere, including numerous appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. Most recently, he played Marty Funkhouser on Curb Your Enthusiasm, appearing in 22 episodes, including regularly on Season 9 in 2017. "Marty didn't appear on Curb until s4, yet Einstein and Larry David had a rapport that made it seem like he'd been there forever," tweeted Alan Sepinwall. Einstein was also the first repeat guest on Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, appearing in Season 1 and Season 9. "I’m in shock," tweeted fellow Curb actor Richard Lewis, adding: "His long career is hard to match. His role on #curbyourenthusiasm was excruciatingly brilliant! Our cast and crew will be devastated. He was so loved. He told me how much he loved LD and Curb. RIP buddy."

ALSO:

• Larry David remembers Einstein: “Never have I seen an actor enjoy a role the way Bob did playing Marty Funkhouser on Curb. It was an amazing, unforgettable experience knowing and working with him. There was no one like him, as he told us again and again. We’re all in a state of shock."
• Celebrities pay tribute to Bob Einstein, including Curb vets Cheryl Hines and David Mandel
• Einstein told a joke so funny on Curb he nearly left Jerry Seinfeld in tears
• Jimmy Kimmel tweeted his friend "Supe" was "the master of a joke you could see coming for miles that still killed when it arrived"
• Patton Oswalt calls Einstein a "genius" talk show panel guest: "Whenever Bob Einstein was on Letterman as 'Super Dave' it was un-missable. No one was more confident with the long payoff"
• Sarah Silverman says we called him "Super": "I will miss his brilliant comedy and vice-like hugs"
• Listen to Einstein talk about his comedic inspirations and his favorite Curb episodes in a December 2017 podcast interview