Sarah Silverman Mourns Death of Her Father and 'Best Pal' Donald Silverman
He died Wednesday night surrounded by family.
BigThink
Sarah Silverman is in mourning following the loss of her incredibly dedicated father, Donald Silverman.
The 52-year-old actress and comedian took to Instagram on Thursday to share the sad news with a carousel of photos. In her caption, Silverman noted that her "best pal" was surrounded by family when he died Wednesday night.
"My best pal, Schleppy - my dad, died last night. All the sisters, and grandkids surrounded him with love and singing and very dark f***ed up jokes this final week," she wrote in her caption. "But ultimately, he wanted to be with his love, Janice, who we lost last Monday. No shiva- [if] you wanna do something please donate to @2ndnurture ❤️ He always said he was the richest man in the world because of his family, and he was."
Janice was Silverman's stepmother, and she was married to Donald for more than four decades. Second Nature is a non-profit organization whose mission is to "radically increase the number of families who choose to foster and adopt waiting children and teens and do so successfully."
In the comments section, Chelsea Handler showed support writing, "You had the best dad. Funny, smart, kind and a human good doer. I will miss you, popsicle." Lisa Kudrow dropped three heart emojis and Judd Apatow offered his condolences.
Donald was prominently featured in Silverman's work, most recently in 2018 when he appeared in her Hulu series, I Love You, America. In a segment dubbed "The Cost of Aging," Silverman discussed the cost of aging and mulled over how well the average American is prepared for a death in the family.
Donald, who once admitted to Googling his daughter "a lot," was 81 at the time, and, in true comedic fashion, Silverman joked, "He's kept Satan waiting for five whole years," after noting that the average life expectancy for an American male is 76. She took him to a doctor, went shopping for a coffin and he also made a video will.
It also came as no surprise to Silverman's fans that Donald also was featured in her 2010 memoir, The Bedwetter, in which she recalled learning the art of swearing thanks to a masterful teacher, her dad.
"It was like he was teaching a 'cursing as a second language' course for one," she quipped.
Also in her memoir, Silverman wrote about her crippling depression in her teens, and "dad was always coming up with schemes to fix me." Donald was a real-life Superman. Case in point: when Silverman flirted with the idea of dropping out of NYU in order to pursue a career in standup, her father not only approved the move but also offered to continue paying her rent.
For a 2013 profile in The Guardian, the outlet's reporter immediately found out for herself where Silverman got her sense of humor:
"When I go to her west Hollywood apartment to meet her and her father, Donald, it takes less than a minute to see where her sense of [humor] comes from," Hadley Freeman wrote in her profile. "'This was the first Thanksgiving we were all together since his mother died,' Sarah says, gesturing to her father, and then adds solemnly, Silvermanishly, 'She was murdered.'"
Freeman added, "Sarah's mouth drops open, the shocker shocked. 'Dad!' she gasps."
RIP.
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