Garry Shandling’s Cause Of Death Questioned, Doctor Won’t Sign Death Certificate


The infamous and much-loved comedian Garry Shandling recently passed away, but his adventures aren’t quite over yet. Garry’s doctor is, according to New York Daily News, completely mystified as to what the actual cause of death was for the goofy stand-up. The coroner’s office is investigating the matter with some pretty serious attitudes, as Shandling’s own doctor has refused to sign the joker’s death certificate. Whatever Shandling’s cause of death is, if it has a New York city coroner mystified, it’s probably worth a good long look.

Shandling’s longtime physician and friend has adamantly resisted any attempts to force the issue. TMZ broke the news on March 26 that the doctor has reportedly “repeatedly refused” to sign any documents regarding the cause of death for Shandling. The Larry Sanders Show creator’s doctor insists that Garry was in fine physical health, though the two had not met for a proper medical examination in over a year.

Shandling’s death occurred at the emergency room of St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, this last Thursday morning. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, already swamped, has been convinced to take a much closer look at the comedian’s health records. The Coroner’s Office is cutting no corners with this one, and has subpoenaed all of the actor’s blood work from the hospital. The Coroner’s Office wasn’t quite satisfied with just the emergency room blood work, and also demanded that all of Shandling’s health and medical records be turned over for review. The Coroner’s Office has not yet made an official comment on the situation, so let’s hope it’s just a big misunderstanding and foul play wasn’t at hand. Even with hopes and good intentions, the whole situation is really starting to stink.

Sources have told the Daily News that the well-known actor and comedian had suffered a massive heart attack recently, or at least appeared to have. No surprises there as, despite the coroner’s assertion that Garry was in good health, Shandling was 66 years old. Funny or not, time gets us all in the end. Nonetheless, the source says that the actor’s death was a “shock” and that he “took care” of himself.

“It’s a shock. He seemed pretty healthy, took care of himself. There were no known heart issues at all in his history.”

Just one day earlier, the same gossip site had reported that the actor was looking down on his health. Signs of ailing health were reported, and the Emmy winner was experiencing enough discomfort to seek out some help. Garry reportedly consulted with a friend who also happened to be a doctor, asking about aching pain and shortness of breath. The doctor and friend rightly warned Shandling to go for a visit to the local ER if the symptoms continued to play out. Shandling waited until the next morning.

When the symptoms did continue through the night, Shandling called for a car to give him a lift to the ER. However, disaster struck and Shandling reportedly collapsed mid-call. He was able to hang up and call 911 for assistance and was rushed to the ER, where doctors did whatever they could to help. Sadly, Shandling passed away that morning after he and the ambulance crew reached the hospital. Shandling’s cause of death is still a mystery to all concerned parties, at least as far as the rest of us know, and this has caused a bit of an upset. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office clearly isn’t holding back on this one, and we can hope at best to find that the cause of death was an upsetting accident.

Garry Shandling is best known for his stints on his own talk show, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, which ran from 1986 to 1990. He is equally well known for his supporting role in the equally famous The Larry Sanders Show, which was shown by HBO from 1992 through 1998.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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