Gallagher, Tampa’s watermelon-smashing comedian, is dead at 76 - Tampa Bay Times

TAMPA — Watermelon-smashing comedian and Tampa-raised Leo Gallagher Jr., champion known simply arsenic Gallagher, died Friday, his erstwhile manager confirmed to Variety and TMZ. He was 76.

“Gallagher had been successful hospice attraction successful California aft suffering aggregate bosom attacks successful caller years,” Variety reported.

Gallagher roseate to fame via prop comedy, specifically by utilizing a elephantine woody mallet named the Sledge-O-Matic to smash nutrient and different items, culminating with him splattering a watermelon.

He was calved connected July 24, 1946, successful Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and spent his aboriginal puerility successful Cleveland earlier his parents relocated to Tampa successful hopes that the aerial would beryllium bully for his asthma.

Late Tampa vigor property Tedd Webb’s website says Gallagher “spent a batch of clip arsenic a lad riding his bicycle backmost and distant successful his vicinity on El Prado Boulevard adjacent Manhattan Avenue. Friends retrieve him shouting insults and unusual comments to anybody who would perceive arsenic helium passed them connected his souped-up Schwinn.”

Gallagher’s begetter built a skating rink connected Armenia Avenue. He went to religion astatine Good Shepherd Lutheran connected Dale Mabry and graduated from H.B. Plant High School successful 1964. He past enrolled astatine the University of South Florida, but moved to Los Angeles erstwhile helium was conscionable 1 recognition abbreviated of graduating.

Gallagher is seen leaving the Howard Stern Show connected Aug. 29, 2000. [ RICK MACKLER | ZUMA Press ]

He yet made his mode backmost to Tampa and worked astatine Lum’s Hot Dog Restaurant connected Hillsborough Avenue. That’s erstwhile helium began to make his Sledge-O-Matic routine, based connected a tv infomercial for the Ronco Veg-O-Matic.

Gallagher’s archetypal interruption came erstwhile opening for instrumentalist Bobby Rydell successful Tampa. He past toured with musicians Jim Stafford and Kenny Rogers into the precocious 1970s.

In 1975, according to IMDB.com, helium performed connected “The Mike Douglas Show,” a nationally broadcast tv speech show.

Five years later, Gallagher filmed his archetypal tv special, “Gallagher: An Uncensored Evening,” during which his largest assemblage was introduced to his watermelon-smashing antics. IMDB.com describes the peculiar arsenic 1 “for which the assemblage was sick prepared.”

In aboriginal years, assemblage members wore raincoats and brought umbrellas to his shows for extortion against flying fruit.

Planning your weekend?

Subscribe to our escaped Top 5 things to bash newsletter

We’ll present ideas each Thursday for going out, staying location oregon spending clip outdoors.

You’re each signed up!

Want much of our free, play newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore each your options

Through the 1980s, helium remained a popular civilization icon with regular appearances connected “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour.”

Variety estimates helium performed much than 3,500 unrecorded shows during his 4 decades connected the road. That includes 16 tv specials broadcast connected HBO and Showtime.

He was controversial. Racial, sexist and homophobic jokes that were acceptable aboriginal successful his vocation aboriginal were deemed offensive.

He didn’t care.

“They said, ‘Gallagher, you can’t beryllium connected TV, you’re not delicate to the needs of the handicapped,’” helium said astatine a 2013 show. “I said, ‘I americium too. That’s wherefore I usage each their parking spaces. I don’t cognize wherefore they’ve got to beryllium truthful close. It ain’t similar they gotta walk.”

Through it all, Tampa residents considered him 1 of their own.

“Plant High School and USF alum, Gallagher, has passed away,” Tampa City Councilman Guido Maniscalco wrote connected Facebook.

Clark Brooks, a Tampa standup comedian and exertion for the Tampa News Force satire website, said Gallagher was “a existent crippled changer, dominating cablegram TV drama for years earlier everybody was filming specials. The information that helium was from Tampa enactment the bay country drama country connected the representation earlier determination adjacent was a scene.”

Information from a 2013 Tampa Bay Times illustration connected Gallagher was utilized for this report.