Comedian Garry Shandling dies aged 66

US comedian Garry Shandling has died. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the death of the actor, who was 66.

The cause of death was not disclosed by police but Shandling reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Chicago-born Shandling moved from a short stint in the advertising business to comedy writing and stand-up.

He began his showbiz career as a writer for TV sitcoms such as Welcome Back, Kotter and Sanford and Son.

In the 1980s he began to experiment with TV comedy with his first series, It's Garry Shandling's Show which pioneered a form of docudrama comedy that influenced comics such as Ricky Gervais.

Following Shandling's death, The Office creator Gervais said the deceased was "one of the most influential comedians of a generation".

In 1992, he created his comic masterpiece with The Larry Sanders Show, which starred him as an egomaniac late-night TV host with an anxiety-ridden showbiz life behind the scenes.

Guests over the years included Robin Williams, Jennifer Aniston, Alec Baldwin, Tom Petty, Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld and Helen Hunt.

Among the many honours the Emmy Award-winning series took home was a Bafta for 1999 outstanding international programme and two British Comedy Awards.

As well as the The Larry Sanders Show, he was a regular host of events such as the Grammy and Emmy awards and also appeared in films such as Dr Doolittle, Zoolander and Iron Man 2.

He was recently seen in Seinfeld's web-series Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and Shandling is also featured in The Jungle Book movie, which is set to be released in April.

Officers were called to his home on due to a reported medical emergency.

His remains were transported from his Los Angeles home to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead, LAPD officer Aareon Jefferson said.

Reuters