From the Smothers Brothers to Marty Funkhouser 

Bob Einstein - best known for playing Marty Funkhouser in Curb Your Enthusiasm – has died at the age of  76.

His younger brother, fellow comedian and actor Albert Brooks, tweeted ‘RIP My dear brother Bob Einstein. A great brother, father and husband. A brilliantly funny man. You will be missed forever.’

And fellow Curb star Richard Lewis said: ‘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.’

Einstein  got his start in comedy writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late 1960s alongside Steve Martin, and appeared on the influential US TV show as Officer Judy.

He created the Stuntman character Super Dave Osborne, who was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman before landing his own variety show, which ran from 1987 to 1991 in Canada and the US.

As well as his recurring role in Curb, he also played Larry Middleman in the third season of Arrested Development and also featured on the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers as obnoxious Tony Deloge.

 In Ocean's Thirteen he played Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon)'s father, Bobby Caldwell, a master robber and con artist whose day job is an FBI agent.

Einstein was also the first comic to appear twice on Jerry Seinfeld's web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Published: 2 Jan 2019