Perry Kurtz, a Los Angeles comedian who appeared on season eight of America’s Got Talent as well as on The Late Late Show with James Corden, has died in a hit-and-run collision. He was 73.
Kurts died Thursday when he was struck by a Honda Civic in Tarzana around 11:20 p.m., per the Los Angeles Police Department. His death was later confirmed by the L.A. Country Medical Examiner’s Office, the cause of death deemed to be blunt force injuries.
LAPD arrested 18-year-old Nathan Jaimes in connection with the hit-and-run.
Kurtz auditioned for AGT in the sixth episode of season eight in 2006. He performed a rap about the then-judges, Howard Stern, Heidi Klum and Mel B. None voted for him, and he was eliminated in the same round.
Per IMDb, he performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2014 and on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2018.
Perry Kurtz told Shoutout LA in 2022 that he grew up in Philadelphia and moved to San Francisco in 1979. “I am a full-time, working comedian. I’ve never had a day job and have only made money making people laugh,” he told the outlet.
In the ’80s, he traveled across the United States and Canada performing, and then moved to Los Angeles in 1989. Soon after, he became a paid regular at the Comedy Store, where his name now appears on the side of the building.
A list of survivors was not immediately available, though his daughter, Zelda Velazquez, confirmed his death to the New York Times.
