Valley comedian dies after car accident

PHOENIX - Standup comic Robert Schimmel, a frequent guest on Howard Stern's radio show, has died after suffering serious injuries in a car accident. He was 60.

Schimmel's spokesman, Howard Bragman, said Schimmel died Friday evening in a Phoenix hospital.

Schimmel was a passenger Aug. 26 in a car driven by his 19-year-old daughter Aliyah. Bragman said Aliyah Schimmel swerved to avoid another car and the vehicle she was driving rolled to the side of the freeway. Bragman said she is hospitalized in stable condition.

Robert Schimmel lived in Scottsdale. The 60-year-old comedian has been a frequent guest on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and on Howard Stern's radio show. His 2008 memoir, "Cancer on $5 a Day," chronicles his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Schimmel starred in a Fox sitcom that was picked up in 2000 but had to be canceled after he learned he had cancer and needed to begin chemotherapy immediately, according to his website.

The site says Schimmel more recently had a Showtime special called "Life Since Then" and was integrating his life's experiences with comedy to not only make audiences laugh but raise cancer awareness and hope.

The site also says the comedian learned a lot about "life, attitude and laughter" following his cancer fight and the loss of a child. He also had two failed marriages.