He was never really an actor, just a "comedian," then merely a "personality." I can\'t think of a single serious dramatic role he ever performed, and his comedic roles were all pretty much the same character... him.
But then he was from a different generation, when such things weren\'t expected of a performer.
I can remember laughing at his routine when I was a child and saw him on television specials or reruns of his crappy old movies. He always had pretty clean material, not at all risque like Don Rickles or Rodney Dangerfield, so it was permitted for kids to watch it.
Hopefully now he will be remembered in his younger appearance, not his corpselike state of inactivity over the last 20 years.