America's Got Talent Contestant Killed in Hit and Run
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'America's Got Talent' Contestant Killed in Hit and Run

Recently, stand-up comedian and former America's Got Talent contestant Perry Kurtz passes away in a devastating hit and run accident. He was 73 at the time of death.

Initially, the Los Angeles Police Department report an unnamed male died in a hit and run incident around 11:20pm. Authorities find him near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Corbin Avenue. Perry's manager Dante Rusciolelli confirms afterwards that unfortunately the America's Got Talent contestant passed away at the scene.

He mourns his friend and client in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. "Perry was not only a client, he's been my friend since 1987," Dante says. "He has been a staple in the Los Angeles comedy community for decades and will be greatly missed. Our prayers are with his family."

Eventually, the police find the man in the hit and run that killed the AGT contestant. They arrest 18 year old Nathon Jaimes for the crime. They find his gray Honda Civic almost half a mile from the scene.

The Late Perry Kurtz Blows Up as America's Got Talent Contestant

The late Perry Kurtz' biggest appearance lies in when he takes the America's Got Talent stage as a contestant in 2013. There, he faces Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Mel B as an 'ex-male stripper' and proceeds to go through a comedic rap routine. All the judges trash him afterwards and send him home packing.

At the time, Perry alleges a deeper conspiracy to take potshots at the comedian. "Howard had prewritten mean jokes, to which I heckled him back and got laughs from the crowd," he writes in a YouTube caption. "They gave me no mic stand, strange music, and shut my mic off to 2/3 of the audience when I started to sing, THEN told the crowd to stand up and boo me. Welcome to reality TV."