Comedian Robert Schimmel has died

By April MacIntyre Sep 4, 2010, 18:55 GMT

Comic and Showtime and HBO regular Robert Schimmel has died from injuries he sustained from a car accident last week.

Schimmel was 60 years-old.

The comedian has suffered several health setbacks, including cirrhosis of the liver from a bad blood transfusion which infected him with Hepatitis C, and he also survived a heart attack and battled cancer too.  Schimmel was waiting on a possible liver transplant at the time of his death.

Last week in Arizona, Schimmel was a passenger in a car with his daughter driving the vehicle. Schimmel’s 19-year-old daughter was driving on an Arizona highway at the time of the accident , as she reportedly swerved to avoid another vehicle, causing their car to roll over onto the side of the road.

Schimmel’s daughter was hospitalized and was then reported to be in stable condition; Schimmel’s 11-year-old son was also in the vehicle.

Schimmel's younger brother, comedy writer Jeff Schimmel, confirmed the news via his Facebook status, posting: "ROBERT SCHIMMEL. Son, Brother, Father, Grandfather, Comedian, Generous Man. I have always loved you, admired you, and was proud to be your biggest fan. I will never forget a single moment. R.I.P."

Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000, Schimmel beat cancer went on to write a book about his experience, "Cancer on $5 a Day (chemo not included)."

Schimmel was a truly funny man and will be missed, here are some (NSFW) of his clips from past performances:

Schimmel's lucky break came during Rodney Dangerfield's young comedians special for HBO in 1988, Nothin' Goes Right, where he shared the stage with murderers row lineup of the late Bill Hicks, Andrew Dice Clay, Lenny Clarke, Dom Irrera, Carol Leifer and Barry Sobel.