Dominick DeLuise was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Vincenza DeStefano and John DeLuise. DeLuise graduated from Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts and later attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts where he majored in biology. 

In 1961, DeLuise played in the Off-Broadway musical revue Another Evening with Harry Stoons, which lasted nine previews and one performance. Another member of the cast was 19-year-old Barbra Streisand. DeLuise generally appeared in comedic parts, although an early appearance in the movie Fail-Safe as a nervous USAF technical sergeant showed a broader range. His first acting credit was as a regular performer in the television show The Entertainers in 1964. He gained early notice for his supporting turn in the Doris Day film The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). 

TV producer Greg Garrison hired DeLuise to appear as a specialty act on The Dean Martin Show. DeLuise ran through his “Dominick the Great” routine, a riotous example of a magic act gone wrong. Dom’s catch phrase, with an Italian accent, was “No Applause Please, Save-a to the End.” The show went so well that DeLuise was soon a regular on Martin’s program, participating in both songs and sketches. 

DeLuise was probably best known as a regular in Mel Brooks’ films. He appeared in The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Brooks’ late wife, actress Anne Bancroft, directed Dom in Fatso (1980)

In the 1970s and 1980s, he often co-starred with his real-life friend Burt Reynolds, in films like The Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit II. DeLuise was the host of the television show Candid Camera from 1991 to 1992. He was a mainstay of Burke’s Law, an American television series that aired on CBS in the mid 1990’s.

An avid cook and author of several books on cooking, he appeared as a regular contributor to a syndicated home improvement radio show, On The House with The Carey Brothers, giving listeners tips on culinary topics. 

DeLuise died of kidney failure on May 4, 2009 at age 75. He had been battling cancer for more than a year prior to his death.

Source: Wiki