Patrice O’Neal, the stand-up comedian and actor, has died at the age of 41, after suffering a stroke in October. O’Neal got his start in the Boston comedy circuit, then won national recognition via regular appearances on Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn in the early 2000s. He later landed roles in 25th Hour, The Office, Arrested Development, and Chappelle’s Show, on which he played one of the famed playa haters. He was also a regular guest on The Opie & Anthony Show, and it was Opie who confirmed O’Neal’s death by tweeting: “Yes it's true that our pal Patrice O'Neal has passed away. The funniest and best thinker I've ever known PERIOD.” In February, Comedy Central aired O’Neal’s comedy special Elephant in the Room. His last TV appearance came in September, on the Charlie Sheen roast. Above, a vintage clip of O’Neal covering Fashion Week for Tough Crowd. Representative bit of straight-shooting hilarity: “I think I see this bitch’s heart beating through her chest.”

Andy Rooney died last week at the age of 92. He went into the hospital for some minor surgery, there were complications, and he died. In the wake of his passing, people will write many, many obituaries about what he meant, and what he symbolized. And it’s a good thing Rooney isn’t alive for this process, because it would totally annoy him. He would insist that his death is essentially meaningless and that strangers who argue otherwise are idiotic. And I’d like to think he’d be wrong about this, but he’d probably be right.