Trivia

Jeni's girlfriend of three years, Amy Murphy, a television reporter and former WSVN-Fox 7 weather anchor, found him gravely shot in his West Hollywood apartment and called "911". He died later at Ceder-Sinai Hospital.

Wrote jokes for Jimmie 'JJ' Walker in the 1970's.

Following his death, his family later confirmed that Jeni committed suicide, and that Jeni had recently been diagnosed with "severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of insomnia and psychotic paranoia".

In 2004, Jeni was ranked #57 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time; he served on the panel responsible for this ranking.

Was a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. Leno attended his private wake at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, along with comedians Tim Allen, Richard Lewis, Elayne Boosler, Paul Provenza and close friend Paul Rodriguez.

Gave his final performance in February of 2007, at a corporate dinner gig at the Rio in Las Vegas.

First achieved national attention with his Showtime special "Richard Jeni:" Boy from New York City".

Graduated from NYC's Hunter College (a B.A. in political science, with honors)

Jeni was found by his girlfriend, Amy Murphy, a weather anchor and reporter for KTTV in Los Angeles, with a .38-caliber Colt Detective Special between his feet and an apparent self-inflicted handgun wound to the head on the bathroom floor in his West Hollywood, California home. Jeni and Murphy had been conversing in bed, discussing breakfast and their plans for the day, when Murphy left to cook breakfast downstairs. After a few minutes, she heard the sound of a gunshot, ran upstairs, discovered Jeni's condition, and called 9-1-1.

Close friend of Paul Rodriguez.

Grew up in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York

Has a brother Joseph and a sister Mary.

In 1989, he won Comedy USA's Best Nightclub Comedian, as voted by comedy club owners and comedians, and his first Showtime special Richard Jeni: The Boy From New York City won a CableACE Award.

After graduating, Jeni went on to do public relations work, but was let go from five different firms in two years before doing an open-mic night in Brooklyn and deciding to pursue standup comedy as a career in 1982.

On March 12, 2007, Jeni's death was mentioned on The Tonight Show by Jay Leno, with accompanying footage of Jeni's last appearance on the show.