While it’s nice to learn that so many other people love The Cannonball Run as much as I do, it’s very unfortunate that such a discovery comes only with the death of Dom DeLuise. The actor passed away peacefully last night at the age of 75, and today the Internet is heavy in mourning, as well as in discussion and celebration of underrated DeLuise classics.

For me, after the apparently “classic” Cannonball Run movies and my obvious rememberance of the actor’s appearances in The Muppet Movie and on The Muppet Show, I thought of Don Bluth’s animated features, many of which feature the voice of DeLuise. I recall being so excited upon the release of Bluth’s All Dogs Go to Heaven as a kid, mainly because it reunited DeLuise with his Cannonball costar Burt Reynolds. Plus, as much as it was always a delight seeing DeLuise’s jolly face onscreen, his voice alone always gave me a warm feeling. Even his “Pizza the Hut” from Spaceballs comes off as someone you’d like to hug, as messy as that might be.

Speaking of Spaceballs, many around the web are obviously writing fondly of DeLuise’s work in Mel Brooks‘ movies, and at least one person has acknowledged the late actor’s work in Fatso, directed by Mrs. Brooks, aka Anne Bancroft. That and other remembrances can be found after the jump.

• “I’ll always fondly remember Don’s frequent appearances on The Muppet Show,” writes Danny Jensen at Take Part. He shares a clip from Season 2, Episode 11.
• “Most will remember him for “Canonball Run,” but I’ll always have a place in my heart for his work with Mel Brooks,” writes Kristopher Tapley at In Contention. His shared clip is from Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
• Dan Hopper at Best Week Ever settles on the same clip:
  

  I couldn’t find any good clips online from Silent Movie, my favorite Brooks/DeLuise vehicle (and one of my favorite movies ever, period), so for video-obit purposes, you’ll have to just make due with this clip of DeLuise’s Brando impression from Robin Hood: Men In Tights, which absolutely floored me when I was 10

• S.T. VanAirsdale at Movieline has a lot of love for some of DeLuise’s films, but his chosen clip is a terrific one from TV:
  

  We will [miss him] too, for his brilliant recurring turns in Mel Brooks’s ensemble, his underrated work in Anne Bancroft’s Fatso, his culinary-arts adventures, and perhaps most of all, for his legendary 1974 “egg trick” appearance on The Tonight Show. Watch and learn, and rest in peace, D.D.

• Mark Graham at Vulture shares a Cannonball memory:
  

  We’re fairly certain that the history books will never recognize this as such, but back in 1981, when Cannonball Run first came out, we were thoroughly convinced that Dom DeLuise and Burt Reynolds were the single greatest comedic duo that we had ever laid eyes on (please note, we were but 7 years old at the time)…there’s still something magical to us about the combination of DeLuise’s patented blend of rotund-comedian slapstick and Burt Reynolds’s bitchin’ mustache.

• For David Poland at The Hot Blog, the memory shared is a Blazing Saddles one. He concludes with positive thoughts:
  

  It’s been 35 years since Blazing Saddles debuted. Korman, Kahn, Little, and Pickens are all gone. Now Deluise. Sad. But after a year in which we lost both Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, I guess it’s time for me (and others) to grit my teeth and get used to the idea… younger, older… the losses come… but the work does live on… the pleasure of the work keeps coming…

  Dom DeLuise is dead. And I am smiling, thinking of him.

• Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere also discusses and shares DeLuise’s scene from Blazing Saddles:
  

  My favorite Dom DeLuise moment — the funniest, I mean — is the most appalling in terms of homophobic attitudes. It’s the “French mistake” dance scene, of course, in Mel Brooks‘ Blazing Saddles (’74). “Wrong!!!….watch me faggot!…sounds like steam escaping.” Sorry but it’s funny.

• Joe Leydon at MovingPictureBlog references another Brooks film:
  

  There are times in life when I think the only rational response to whatever fresh hell confronts me is to repeat Dom DeLuise’s plaintive complaint in Mel Brooks‘ The Twelve Chairs — “Oh, God! You’re so strict!”

• Mick LaSalle at Maximum Strength Mick shares a clip from Fatso and admits to being a big fan:
  

  Dom DeLuise was one of my favorite screen comedians. He was terribly under-used, but he made the most of whatever chances he got. For some reason, he always cracked me up.

• The Superficial brings up an especially sad reason why DeLuise’s death sucks:
  

  As a kid growing up on Mel Brooks movies, talk about depressing news. I can’t think of any actor out there who I’d consider a modern day Dom DeLuise. I blame the Internet, and somehow, Zac Efron.

• Eric Golub at The Big Picture offers a kind of poetic tribute:
  

  Yet as Dom DeLuise reminded Burt Reynolds and all of us in “Cannonball Run,” with virtually zero eloquence and plenty of heart, it is the journey that matters, not the destination.

  He did not always win the race, but he was a winner in life and in our hearts.

  He was only the sidekick, but he was no second banana.

  He was larger than life, and kept diving into the meal that is life itself.

  He died a satiated man.

  May we all get to experience as much flavor of this world as he did.

  May we all have fun doing it.

  Rest in peace, Captain Chaos.

• Phil Nugent at The Screengrab perfectly describes the actor’s talents:
  

  A skillful actor yet also a burlesque madman, he was, at the peak of his career, both a modern performer and a throwback to the vaudeville-trained character comics of early talkies. And he had an uncanny gift for taking over a scene and making it all his without coming across as pushy or oppressive.

• Chris Nashawaty at Entertainment Weekly’s Pop Watch recalls a personal exchange with the actor:
  

  A few years go I was lucky enough to interview DeLuise for a profile I was writing on Reynolds for EW. And I’ll never forget hearing that squealing belly laugh over the phone. When he unleashed it, you couldn’t help but laugh, too. Until it hurt.

• Also at Pop Watch, Cannonball Run II costar Marilu Henner remembers DeLuise, and his laugh:
  

  I think what I’ll remember most about Dom is his laugh. That rolling, rolling laugh. It starts with a big burst of energy and then this girlish squeal comes pouring out. His laugh was aerobic. It pulsated his entire body. When you met him you knew he was someone who totally enjoyed life. He would envelope you and hug you and you’d be squished, but you didn’t mind because it was Dom.

• Beaks at Aint It Cool News also celebrates the laughter, from his end:
  

  He made every movie funnier just by stepping in front of the camera. Starting with his uproarious performance as an inept spy in Frank Tashlin’s THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT, DeLuise was one of Hollywood’s most reliably funny actors; whether cast in a substantial role or utilized as a walk-on scene-stealer, he was going to make you laugh one way or another.

• Finally, a somewhat distasteful, yet honest, obit from Dustin Rowles at Pajiba:
  

  I wish I could conjure up something poetic to say about the man, but my closest relationship with Dom DeLuise was actually through his son, Peter, one of the stars of “21 Jump Street.” You’ll have to forgive my ignorance. I do believe that Dom was the Chris Farley of his day (or Kevin James, for you youngsters).

Oh, and here’s my clip to share: his “Duo” duet from An American Tail: