Comedian Paul Mooney died on Wednesday morning after experiencing a heart attack at his home in Oakland, California. This was confirmed by his publicist and then reported by journalist Roland Martin.
In a tweet, Martin wrote in part: “Comedic legend Paul Mooney has passed away. His cousin, Rudy Ealy, just called me from Paul’s phone and said he passed away two hours ago after suffering a heart attack at his home in Oakland. He was 79.”
On Wednesday morning, Mooney’s Twitter account also shared the following message; “Thank you all from the bottom of all of our hearts …you’re all are the best,” the tweet reads. “Mooney World .. The Godfather of Comedy – ONE MOON MANY STARS! .. To all in love with this great man.. many thanks.
Mooney, with the birth name Paul Gladney, worked as both an actor and a writer in his career. His career spanned over five decades.
He was the head writer on The Richard Pryor Show in 1977 and cowrote several of Richard Pryor’s comedy albums and Saturday Night Live jokes. Mooney’s contributions to the shows, Samford and Sons and Chapelle Show, are a symbol of his great influence in black comedy.
Playing Sam Cooke in the 1978 Academy Award-winning film, The Buddy Holly Story was one of Mooney’s earliest big-screen appearances. He portrayed Junebug in Spike Lee’s 2000 satirical-comedy, Bamboozled, and appeared most recently in the 2016 film “Meet the Blacks.”
In 2009, Simon & Schuster published Mooney’s memoir, titled Black Is the New White. The book featured a foreword written by comedian Dave Chappelle. Mooney is survived by his four children: Dwayne Mooney, Shane Mooney, Daryl Mooney, and Symeon Mooney.
