LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Pat McCormick, the walrus-mustachioed comedian and comedy writer who made regular appearances on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and "The Gong Show," has died at 78.
He died Friday at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, where he was admitted in 1998 following a stroke that left him partially paralyzed.
Says longtime friend and comedian Shelley Berman, quote "Few, very few, will ever be able to craft a joke as beautifully as Pat."
On being on the wagon, McCormick often joked: "I gave up drinking booze when my liver started showing up on airport metal detectors."
In one 1974 "Tonight Show," he streaked naked across the stage behind Carson during the opening monologue.
He wrote for numerous comedians and performers, including Phyllis Diller, Merv Griffin and Red Skelton.
Picked by The Wishman.