Shelly Desai, the character actor best known for his appearances on the hit sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, has died. He was 90.
The Mumbai-born actor earned over 90 screen roles, including the Ray Romano-led drama Men of a Certain Age.
His death was announced on Facebook by his stepdaughter, Dawn Lerman Vaccaro, who wrote: “The kindest person in the world passed away today. I am beyond heartbroken. He was my mother Phyllis’s husband, soul mate , my stepfather, my kid’s grandfather and my cheerleader for all my creative projects.”
She added: “Besides his friends and his family, the thing he cared most about was acting and charity.”
In a follow-up post, she added: “He was that guy if you watched enough TV, films, or plays, you saw him — and said it: “Oh, that guy.” With over 92 credits, he was a completely memorable character actor who could walk into a scene, raise one eyebrow, and suddenly everyone else had to work harder. That’s how he showed up for his friends and family, too.”
No cause of death has been announced.
Desai was born in Mumbai, then known as Bombay, on December 3, 1935. He moved to the United States in the 1960s to study engineering, but soon found he preferred to act.
By the 1970s he had appeared on Broadway, and won a small on screen role in Brian De Palma’s 1974 musical film Phantom of the Paradise.
Over the following decades, he built a steady list of television credits with appearances in shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm, ER, Friends, NYPD Blue, Ugly Betty, Baskets and History of the World: Part II.
He appeared in multiple seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Hwang, Charlie (Charlie Day) and Frank’s (Danny DeVito) landlord who develops a taste for snake meat.
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In a 2016 behind-the-scenes video from the long-running sitcom, Desai said of his acting style: “One way is to acquire someone’s feel, or persona. I acquire that. I’m not stealing anything! It’s a way of absorbing things that I can portray.”
From 2009 to 11 he played Carlos in 14 episodes of Men of a Certain Age opposite Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula.
His film credits include Thelma & Louise (1991), Toys (1992), Clifford (1994), Escape from L.A. (1996), Barb Wire (1996), Midnight Clear (2006) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015).
He is survived by his wife Phyllis, stepdaughters April and Dawn and grandchildren Sean, Sofia and Dylan.
