John Pinette

John Paul Pinette ( pi-NET; March 23, 1964 – April 5, 2014) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and Broadway performer. He toured the comedy club circuit beginning in the 1980s and appeared in cinema and on television. Besides stand-up, Pinette did various impressions, among them Michael Jackson, The Chipmunks, Elvis Presley, Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, Hervé Villechaize (Tattoo from Fantasy Island), an Ewok, actor Marlon Brando (notably Brando's role in The Godfather), as well as a range of regional accents. He occasionally sang in his stand-up routines, working in songs such as "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, "Will You Be There" from Free Willy, and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". A graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Pinette was originally an accountant before he chose to pursue a career in comedy on the advice of his friends. He had an early break in 1991 when he opened for Frank Sinatra's shows. The following year, he was cast in the television shows Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Vinnie & Bobby. In 1998, he would record and release his first CD, Show Me the Buffet, and appear in the finale of Seinfeld. Pinette would go on to star in dozens of films and TV shows including, Junior (1994), Dear God (1996), Simon Sez (1999), Duets(2000), The Punisher (2004), and The Last Godfather (2010). He would also star in the Broadway musical Hairspray as Edna Turnblad in 2004, and host the TV series All You Can Eat on H2. In 1999, he was named Stand-Up Comedian of the Year by the American Comedy Awards and was nominated for a Gemini Award.