Greg Giraldo

A sharp-witted and corrosive comic talent, Greg Giraldo rose quickly from clubs to television in the late 1990s, eventually making a home on television, most notably on Comedy Central's celebrity roasts, where he proved to be a formidable foil for the famous and less-than-famous. His electrically charged but never ill-considered routines earned him steady work on the comedy channel, which paved his way to the major networks as a guest and host on the 2010 season of "Last Comic Standing" (NBC, 2003- ). His untimely death in September of that year cut short a promising career that seemed poised for greater stardom.

Born Dec. 10, 1965, Greg Giraldo was the eldest son of Colombian and Spanish immigrants who raised him in the Queens borough of New York City. A gifted student, he earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia University before studying at Harvard Law School. A brief stint as a lawyer at the prominent New York firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates followed before he decided to shift gears and pursue a career as a comic. Giraldo's days in the legal field, which he rarely discussed in interviews, served as the basis for a short-lived sitcom called "Common Law" (ABC, 1996), which featured Giraldo in the lead.

He was a mainstay of the New York comedy club circuit, honing an act that centered on material that was keenly intelligent and cutting; frequently labeled as an "insult comic," Giraldo took no prisoners when it came to lambasting the foibles of others, but rarely resorted to out-and-out cruelty. His work made him a favorite of club goers and fellow comics alike, and led to appearances on Howard Stern's radio programs and television talk shows like "Late Night with David Letterman" (CBS, 1993-2015), which further increased his exposure. A live comedy performance on Comedy Central's "Comedy Central Presents" (1998- ) launched a lengthy tenure with the cable network. He became a frequent commentator on their news-oriented programs like "Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn" (Comedy Central, 2002-04), where he provided a rational alternative to the more incendiary comments of regulars like Jim Norton and Patrice O'Neal. In 2005, Giraldo became the host of his own program, "The Greg Giraldo Show," which followed a format similar to that of Quinn's program. It did not evolve past the pilot stage. That same year, he served as host of "Friday Night Stand-Up with Greg Giraldo" (Comedy Central, 2005), which changed its title to "Stand-Up Nation with Greg Giraldo" in 2006, shortly before its cancellation.

Giraldo's most successful showcase was Comedy Central's outrageous celebrity roasts, which poked savage fun at a variety of pop culture figures ranging from William Shatner to David Hasselhoff. Giraldo was a mainstay of the roasts beginning in 2002 with the infamous "Comedy Central Presents: The New York Friars Club Roast of Chevy Chase" (2002), which found the actor-comedian under fire from a barrage of comics, many of whom he barely knew. As with his stand-up, Giraldo could deliver devastating verbal blows during his time at the dais, but even his most jaw-dropping comment had a level of wry intelligence; he would go to lambaste figures ranging from rapper Flavor Flav and comic Joan Rivers to actor David Hasselhoff, which marked his final Comedy Central roast appearance, in 2010.

In 2006, Giraldo released his first comedy album, Good Day to Cross a River, on Comedy Central's record label. A second, Midlife Vices, followed in 2009. Giraldo continued to perform and tour on a regular basis, most notably as part of Comedy Central's Indecision '08 tour. Though still a frequent participant in the network's programming, including "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil" (Comedy Central, 2008) series, Giraldo's career began to carry him to other venues. He appeared alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Jerry Seinfeld on the latter's critically panned but heavily hyped series "The Marriage Ref" (NBC, 2010-11), and later served as a judge on the revived "Last Comic Standing" during its summer outing in 2010.

Giraldo had a history of off-stage issues involving alcohol, but announced in a 2005 interview on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (NBC, 1993-2009) that he had quit drinking. However, in September 2010, Giraldo was rushed to a New Jersey hospital after failing to appear at a scheduled performance. Complications due to an overdose of prescription medication led to his death on Sept. 29, 2010. Both the comedy and entertainment communities mourned the loss of his talent and intelligence. Fellow comic and friend Bill Engvall's statement seemed to summarize the feelings of everyone who had either known him personally or had the good luck to see him perform: "I am deeply saddened He was genuinely funny and was one of the good guys. The comedy world has again lost another great one. Thanks for the laughs Greg. Rest in Peace."