The legendary US comedian Leo Gallagher is dead. As his manager confirmed to "Fox News Digital", the comedian died at the age of 76 surrounded by his family in California. Gallagher became famous mainly because of his special and bizarre live performance, called "Sledge-O-Matic". There he regularly smashed watermelons and other food with a homemade wooden sledgehammer.

He died "after a brief struggle for his health," it said. In a conversation with talk show host David Letterman (75) a few years ago, Gallagher already reported "some heart attacks" that he had suffered. The comedian first came to prominence in the early '80s when he became the first stand-up comedian to earn his own special on cable TV, on his show An Uncensored Evening.