Publicist Jay Schwartz did not disclose the cause of death, but DeLuise, 75, had been battling cancer for more than a year.

DeLuise was surrounded by family when he died in a Santa Monica, California, hospital Monday night, son Michael DeLuise told CNN affiliate KTLA.

DeLuise was most famous for his supporting roles in a number of Mel Brooks films, including 1974′s “Saddles” — in which he played a flamboyant musical director who led dancers in a number called “The French Mistake” — and 1976′s “Silent Movie,” in which he played the assistant to Brooks’ director Mel Funn. He was also in the Brooks-directed “The Twelve Chairs” (1970), “Spaceballs” (1987) and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993).

But he could also assay more serious roles, most notably in the 1980 dark comedy “Fatso,” in which he played an overweight man trying to wean himself from comfort food. The film was directed by Brooks’ wife, Anne Bancroft.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Dom DeLuise, who spiced up such movies as “Blazing Saddles,” “Silent Movie” and “The Cannonball Run” with his manic delivery and roly-poly persona, has died, his son’s publicist said.

Dom DeLuise was best known for his roles in Mel Brooks films as well as films with his friend Burt Reynolds.

Publicist Jay Schwartz did not disclose the cause of death, but DeLuise, 75, had been battling cancer for more than a year.

DeLuise was surrounded by family when he died in a Santa Monica, California, hospital Monday night, son Michael DeLuise told CNN affiliate KTLA.

DeLuise was most famous for his supporting roles in a number of Mel Brooks films, including 1974′s “Saddles” — in which he played a flamboyant musical director who led dancers in a number called “The French Mistake” — and 1976′s “Silent Movie,” in which he played the assistant to Brooks’ director Mel Funn. He was also in the Brooks-directed “The Twelve Chairs” (1970), “Spaceballs” (1987) and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993).

But he could also assay more serious roles, most notably in the 1980 dark comedy “Fatso,” in which he played an overweight man trying to wean himself from comfort food. The film was directed by Brooks’ wife, Anne Bancroft. Watch an impromptu performance by Dom DeLuise »

DeLuise, who struggled with his own weight, was also an author of cookbooks.

In 1991, he told CNN’s Larry King that after meeting Luciano Pavarotti while working on an opera, he realized he needed to try to shed some of his weight.

“I finally became powerless over food,” he told King. “You know, anybody who’s an alcoholic or cocaine or something, that’s what food was to me.”

Besides authoring cookbooks, DeLuise penned seven children’s books.

DeLuise was also part of the supporting cast in the Burt Reynolds crash-’em-up vehicles “Smokey and the Bandit II” (1980), “Cannonball Run” (1981) and “Cannonball Run II” (1984). Other DeLuise films include “The End” (1978), “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982) and “Johnny Dangerously” (1984).

His voice was featured in such films as “An American Tail” (1986) and its sequels, “All Dogs Go to Heaven” (1989) and its 1996 sequel, and “Oliver & Company” (1988).

Dominic DeLuise was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 1, 1933. In the 1960s he had bit parts in a handful of movies, including “Fail Safe” (1964), but became well known as a regular on “The Entertainers” and a Dean Martin variety show. He had his own summer replacement show in 1968 and was a regular on Glen Campbell’s “Goodtime Hour” in 1971-72.

DeLuise had three sons — Peter, Michael and David — who all became actors. He told Larry King that it was the “joy of my life” to work with his oldest son, Peter, when he directed the film “Second Nature.”

His wife of 40 years, actress Carol Arthur, appeared in several movies with him, including “Blazing Saddles” and “Silent Movie,” according to DeLuise’s Web site.

DeLuise worked closely on several films with pal Gene Wilder, who in 2002 told Larry King that of all of his co-stars, DeLuise “makes me laugh the most.”

A frequent collaborator with DeLuise, Burt Reynolds released a statement to “Entertainment Tonight” on his friend’s death.

“I was thinking the other day about this. As you get older you think about this more and more, I was dreading this moment. Dom always made everyone feel better when he was around. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much,” Reynolds says

1. What does she say about her relationship with William Hurt, her former lover and costar in “Children of a Lesser God,” for which Matlin won a Golden Globe and an Oscar in 1987?

2. Why does she want to scream?

The answer to the first is easy: Yes, yes, good Lord, yes, Matlin can’t stop talking about Hurt and their passionate, turbulent, at times violent relationship.

For instance, “We made amazing, mind-blowing love. And we fought.” Good to know. And also, “No matter what triggered our fights, they were made far worse by his drinking and my drug use.”

Got it. Mr. Hurt no doubt sends his regards
The answer to the second is more complicated — something to do with Matlin’s being deaf in a hearing world, and being headstrong and wild, and receiving news of her Oscar nomination while dealing with drug addiction (at the age of 21) at the Betty Ford Center.

This memoir, dutifully wrestled into order by L.A. Times film critic Betsy Sharkey, is more ramble than holler, but Matlin clearly enjoys making some noise.

“It wasn’t the first school shooting, but it became the extreme case,” said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “The word ‘Columbine’ became a word that represented something much, much larger than that particular high school.”

Columbine, in some ways, represents the broad insecurity triggered by extreme acts of violence.

Littleton, Colorado, is as picturesque as the set of a family film.

And thanks in part to the 24-hour news cycle, the world witnessed scenes that appeared to be out of a movie: bloodied victims escaping through windows and frightened teens scurrying to safety as law enforcement descended.

Film critic Desson Thomson said films such as Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” do not have to reach far into the American psyche to tell a tale of horror in a post-Columbine world.

“Columbine is now a little like the way 9/11 is engrained in our cultural perspective, so that something like ‘Elephant’ doesn’t even have to directly allude to it,” he said. “Because we were so immersed in Columbine…the filmmakers know that the audience has that reference point, so it doesn’t take much to even poke at that for all of that dimension to come swimming through our consciousness.”

“Elephant,” which won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, dramatized a normal day at a high school that is about to become the scene of a planned mass slaughter by a pair of friends.

Television shows such as “Law & Order” and “Cold Case” also delved into the lives of fictitious teens on murderous rampages.

But music is the one medium that seemed almost primed for an interpretation of the day’s events.

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson weathered speculation that his songs may have influenced the pair of young murderers. He addressed the issue in a Rolling Stone magazine article in 1999.

“When it comes down to who’s to blame for the high school murders in Littleton, Colorado, throw a rock and you’ll hit someone who’s guilty,” Manson wrote. “We’re the people who sit back and tolerate children owning guns, and we’re the ones who tune in and watch the up-to-the-minute details of what they do with them.”

The spotlight on Manson didn’t discourage other artists from referencing Columbine in their songs, music videos and lyrics. Genres from rock to rap reflected on the tragedy.

Manson himself released an album titled “Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)” that contained songs alluding to the massacre.

In the single “The Nobodies,” Manson appeared to reiterate statements from his first-person piece in Rolling Stone with the lyrics “Some children died the other day, We fed machines and then we prayed, Puked up and down in morbid faith,You should have seen the ratings that day.”

Music, TV and film were not the only media that reacted to the shootings.

In 2005, an independent video game developer released “Super Columbine Massacre RPG!,” a role-playing game that allowed users to imagine themselves as the Columbine gunmen and act out the violence.

Scott Steinberg, publisher of DigitalTrends.com, said the game is not indicative of the game market as a whole.

He pointed out that that 85 percent of video games are rated “E for everyone” “E10 plus” or “T for Teen.”

Fewer violent video games are being produced today, Steinberg said, despite the perception that the industry mostly produces “spray and slay” entertainment.

“The industry is becoming a lot more sensitive in realizing that we have a medium that reaches more people than ever,” Steinberg said. iReport.com: How did Columbine affect you?

Littleton, Colorado, was also very much on the mind of bestselling author Jodi Picoult when she came up with the idea for her popular 2007 novel “Nineteen Minutes.”

“I have three children and I was watching all of them, at different points in their school careers, being bullied,” she said. “It got me wondering why, in a post- Columbine world, we haven’t figured this out yet.”

Picoult’s novel told the story of a bullied, alienated high school student who commits an act of violence. Records have since been released disputing that Klebold and Harris were outcasts or the targets of bullying.

Picoult said it was powerful for her to speak with Columbine survivors. She received a standing ovation from families in Littleton during a book event held there.

“It was really moving,” she said. “You realize that the people who want to talk about it the most are the people who lived through it. The one thing I think we have learned, and the one thing I thing pop culture is good for, is the more that we see it pop up, the more we are reminded that this is a worthy subject.”

Wearing a black suit with a red tie and pocket square, Spector showed no reaction as the verdict was announced. Now 69, he faces a sentence of 18 years to life in prison when he is sentenced May 29.

Asked if he agreed to the sentencing date, Spector quietly answered, “Yes.”

Prosecutor Alan Jackson said he believed the jury reached the correct verdict, and he acknowledged the strength and backing of Clarkson’s family. But defense attorney Doron Weinberg said Spector’s defense team disagreed and planned to appeal.

“We don’t believe justice was done,” Weinberg said.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler declined to allow Spector to remain free on bail pending sentencing, citing Spector’s years-long “pattern of violence” involving firearms.
“This was not an isolated incident,” Fidler said, noting Spector’s two previous firearm-related convictions from the 1970s. “The taking of an innocent human life, it doesn’t get any more serious than that.”

Spector’s wife, Rachelle, was in the courtroom to hear the verdict Monday, as was Clarkson’s mother, Donna.

Clarkson, 40, was found dead, slumped in a chair in the foyer of Spector’s Alhambra, California, mansion with a gunshot wound through the roof of her mouth in February 2003.

A mistrial was declared in Spector’s first trial in September 2007. After deliberating 15 days, jurors told Fidler that they were unable to reach a verdict. Spector was also charged with second-degree murder in that trial. Jurors deadlocked 10-2 in favor of conviction.

In closing arguments at the retrial, prosecutor Truc Do called Spector “a very dangerous man” who “has a history of playing Russian roulette with women — six women. Lana just happened to be the sixth.”

Weinberg argued that the prosecution’s case hinged on circumstantial evidence. He said the possibility that Clarkson committed suicide could not be ruled out.

Do pointed out, however, to jurors that Clarkson bought new shoes on the day of her death — something a suicidal woman would not have done, the prosecutor said.

A female juror who declined to be identified told reporters the jurors considered all the evidence and testimony to reach their verdict.

“This entire jury took this so seriously,” she said with tears in her eyes, before adding that “it’s tough to be in a jury,” because another person’s life is in the jury’s hands.

Clarkson starred in the 1985 B-movie “Barbarian Queen” and appeared in many other films, including “DeathStalker,” “Blind Date,” “Scarface,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and the spoof “Amazon Women on the Moon.” She was working as a VIP hostess at Hollywood’s House of Blues at the time of her death.

In the 2007 trial, Spector’s attorneys argued that Clarkson was depressed over a recent breakup and grabbed a .38-caliber pistol to kill herself while at Spector’s home.

But prosecution witnesses painted Spector as a gun-toting menace. Five women took the stand and claimed he had threatened them with firearms. His driver testified that he heard a loud noise and saw the producer leave the home, pistol in hand, saying, “I think I killed somebody.”

Spector’s retrial began in October. Fidler ruled that jurors could consider the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter against Spector.

Spector’s professional trademark was the “Wall of Sound,” the layering of instrumental tracks and percussion that underpinned a string of hits on his Philles label — named for Spector and his business partner, Lester Sill — in the early 1960s.

The roaring arrangements were the heart of what he called “little symphonies for the kids” — among them No. 1 hits like the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and thae Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”

Spector co-produced the Beatles’ final album, “Let It Be,” and worked with ex-Beatles George Harrison and John Lennon on solo projects after the group broke up. His recording of Harrison’s 1971 benefit concert for war relief in Bangladesh won the 1972 Grammy award for album of the year.

Spector has won two Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, but he stayed out of the public eye for two decades before his 2003 arrest in Clarkson’s death.

Singer Rihanna, the girlfriend Brown is accused of attacking, wants the case resolved without a trial, her lawyer said.

The only words heard from Brown, 19, during his brief appearance before Judge Patricia Schnegg were “not guilty,” which he said twice as Schnegg asked for his plea on the two counts.

Brown is charged with felony counts of assault and making criminal threats. If he is convicted, the sentence could range from probation to four years and eight months in prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has said.

The alleged attacked happened during an argument in February that began when 21-year-old Rihanna, who had been dating Brown, found a text message from another woman on his cell phone, according to a sworn police statement.

Rihanna’s lawyer, Donald Etra, told reporters after Monday’s hearing that his client “would prefer that the matter be resolved expeditiously and fairly.”

“She believes that the quicker this case is over, the more quickly she can get back to her life and her career, which is exactly what she’d like to do,” Etra said.

Rihanna, who is in her home country, Barbados, “is in fine spirits, she’s doing fine,” he said.

“She would be pleased if this were over quickly,” Etra said.

He said there were “efforts on behalf of all of the parties to try to resolve the case expeditiously and fairly.”

The goal is “to see if it can be resolved prior to the preliminary hearing and prior to trial,” Etra said. “I think that would benefit everybody.”

When asked if Rihanna would cooperate with prosecutors, Etra gave the same response he’s given previously.

“If asked to testify, she will do so,” he said.

He said it was “premature to speculate” what Rihanna might consider a fair plea deal for Brown.

When Brown appeared for his first hearing a month ago, Rihanna’s lawyer asked the judge not to prohibit Brown from having contact with her while he faces felony charges of assaulting her.

The judge granted Rihanna’s request, only warning Brown “not to annoy, harass, molest, threaten or use force or violence against anyone.”

Court documents released last month revealed details about the case against Brown, including a police statement that the incident began when Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, found a text message on Brown’s cell phone from “a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with.”

Brown issued a public apology for the incident in February.

“Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired,” he said in a statement released by his spokesman. “I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God’s help, to emerging a better person.”