Perry Kurtz, Comedian Who Appeared on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Dies at 73

Perry Kurtz, who worked stand-up comedy circuits for decades and appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” died on Thursday night in a hit-and-run in Los Angeles. He was 73.

A daughter, Zelda Velazquez, confirmed his death. Mr. Kurtz was crossing Ventura Boulevard when he was struck by a car, according to the authorities. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver was later arrested.

Mr. Kurtz was a familiar face in long-established comedy halls, such as the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, but rose to prominence on the national stage with an appearance on “America’s Got Talent” in 2013 in which he performed a rap wearing a silver suit that gleamed like a disco ball.

The performance did not go over well with the judges, who eliminated him from the competition, but it fit a campy persona that Mr. Kurtz embraced.

On “The Late Late Show With James Corden” in 2018, Mr. Kurtz walked onstage wearing thick suspenders and a Hawaiian shirt, a keytar hanging around his neck. He proceeded to play “Louie Louie,” made famous by the Kingsmen, using his tongue.

“In 1979 I moved to San Francisco to pursue my dream,” Mr. Kurtz said in a 2022 interview with Shoutout LA. “Since then, the only job I’ve had is making people laugh.”

Perry Kurtz was born on Feb. 5, 1951, and grew up in Philadelphia. His interest in comedy was born from its ability to defuse tense situations, he told Shoutout LA. As a child, he made a joke during a heated conversation between his father and brother.

“At that point something hit me that laughter can dispel anger,” Mr. Kurtz said.

He attended the Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia from 1968 to 1972, studying commercial art, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In 1973, Mr. Kurtz won $250 with his act at a talent show in New Jersey, and in 1979 moved to San Francisco to pursue comedy as a full-time career while working as a male dancer on the side.

Comedy, though, became an obsession.

In the 1980s, Mr. Kurtz averaged 45 weeks a year appearing at comedy clubs throughout the United States, and by 1985 was the headliner at large clubs, he said.

He had met several iconic comedians in San Francisco, including Milton Berle and Rodney Dangerfield. Mr. Dangerfield began flying Mr. Kurtz to New York to headline his club, and Mr. Berle became a mentor, he told Shoutout LA.

Mr. Berle, one of television’s first stars to appear in homes across the country, helped Mr. Kurtz land an audition in 1989 at the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, where the biggest names worked on material and performed to sold-out crowds.

Mr. Kurtz’s name would later appear in cursive on the wall of the club, which signified his status as a paid regular performer, an honor in the field. Mr. Kurtz moved to Los Angeles that same year, where he met his wife on a dating site.

Mr. Kurtz recalled a performance at the Friars Club in Los Angeles. After his set, Don Rickles, known for his acerbic, wiseguy barbs, patted Mr. Kurtz on the face and said, “Nice try,” Mr. Kurtz told Shoutout LA. Any attention from Mr. Rickles, though, was surely a positive sign of things to come.

Johnny Carson then approached Mr. Kurtz, saying, “If Rickles liked you, you have a good future ahead of you.”

After a daughter was born in 2004, Mr. Kurtz decided to perform closer to his home more often and did shows for seniors and online during the pandemic.

A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.

In his later years, Mr. Kurtz also taught comedy classes about connecting with audiences while remaining inoffensive.

On his LinkedIn profile, he described his goal in comedy: “Make everyone in the world laugh at least once. Maybe twice.”