<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Dom DeLuise, who spiced up such movies as &quot;Blazing Saddles,&quot; &quot;Silent Movie&quot; and &quot;The Cannonball Run&quot; with his manic delivery and roly-poly persona, has died, his son&#39;s publicist told CNN.<br /><br />Publicist Jay Schwartz did not disclose the cause of death, but DeLuise, 75, had been battling cancer for more than a year.<br /><br />DeLuise was surrounded by family when he died in a Santa Monica, California, hospital Monday night, son Michael DeLuise told CNN affiliate KTLA-TV.<br /><br />DeLuise was most famous for his supporting roles in a number of Mel Brooks films, including 1974&#39;s &quot;Saddles&quot; -- in which he played a flamboyant musical director who led dancers in a number called &quot;The French Mistake&quot; -- and 1976&#39;s &quot;Silent Movie,&quot; in which he played the assistant to Brooks&#39; director Mel Funn. He was also in the Brooks-directed &quot;The Twelve Chairs&quot; (1970), &quot;Spaceballs&quot; (1987) and &quot;Robin Hood: Men in Tights&quot; (1993).<br /><br />But he could also assay more serious roles, most notably in the 1980 dark comedy &quot;Fatso,&quot; directed by Brooks&#39; wife, Anne Bancroft, in which he played an overweight man trying to wean himself from comfort food.<br /><br />DeLuise was also part of the supporting cast in the Burt Reynolds crash-&#39;em-up vehicles &quot;Smokey and the Bandit II&quot; (1980), &quot;Cannonball Run&quot; (1981) and &quot;Cannonball Run II&quot; (1984). Other DeLuise films include &quot;The End&quot; (1978), &quot;The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas&quot; (1982) and &quot;Johnny Dangerously&quot; (1984).<br /><br />His voice was featured in such films as &quot;An American Tail&quot; (1986) and its sequels, &quot;All Dogs Go to Heaven&quot; (1989) and its 1996 sequel, and &quot;Oliver &amp; Company&quot; (1988).<br /><br />Dominic DeLuise was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 1, 1933. In the 1960s he had bit parts in a handful of movies, including &quot;Fail Safe&quot; (1964), but became well known as a regular on &quot;The Entertainers&quot; and a Dean Martin variety show. He had his own summer replacement show in 1968 and was a regular on Glen Campbell&#39;s &quot;Goodtime Hour&quot; in 1971-72.<br /><br />DeLuise had three sons -- Peter, Michael and David -- who all became actors.<br /><br />His wife of 40 years, actress Carol Arthur, appeared in several movies with him, including &quot;Blazing Saddles&quot; and &quot;Silent Movie,&quot; according to DeLuise&#39;s Web site.<br /><br />A frequent collaborator with DeLuise, Burt Reynolds released a statement to &quot;Entertainment Tonight&quot; on his friend&#39;s death.<br /><br />&quot;I was thinking the other day about this. As you get older you think about this more and more, I was dreading this moment. Dom always made everyone feel better when he was around. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much,&quot; Reynolds says.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->