Pat McCormick Dies

Veteran comedian Pat McCormick, whose wacky appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” are TV legends, has died at age 78.

McCormick died Friday at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif., where he had been since a stroke in 1998, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

His longtime friend and fellow comic Shelley Berman told the Times Friday: “Few, very few, will ever be able to craft a joke as beautifully as Pat.”

McCormick wrote the classic Carson one-liner: “Due to today’s earthquake, the God is Dead rally has been canceled.”

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McCormick is survived by his son, Ben McCormick, and a grandson.

Rest In Peace, Pat.