Los Angeles - Actor Dom DeLuise, a wisecracking persona who starred in movies like Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie and The Cannonball Run, has died aged 75 after a year long bout with cancer, his family announced Tuesday.

DeLuise died Monday in a Santa Monica hospital surrounded by his family.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1933 he broke in to television comedy in the 1960's as a regular on the show The Entertainers.

But he was most famous for his work on several Mel Brooks movies, including The Twelve Chairs in 1970, Blazing Saddles in 1974, SpaceBalls in 1987 and Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993.

He appeared with Burt Reynolds in the trio of car movies Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Cannonball Run (1981) and Cannonball Run II (1984). His voice was featured in such films as An American Tail (1986) and its sequels, All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and Oliver & Company (1988).

"I was dreading this moment," Reynolds said in a statement released to Entertainment Tonight. "Dom always made everyone feel better when he was around. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much."