Garry Shandling Made His Own 911 Call

Garry Shandling's unexpected death at age 66 on Thursday is believed to have been caused by a heart attack, though the official cause of death is pending, reports the AP. Some related coverage:

• Shandling hadn't been feeling well for a day or so and actually made the 911 call himself, reports TMZ, which says he lost consciousness during the call.
• His seminal Larry Sanders Show on HBO is "where the new age of television" began, argues Robert Lloyd at the Los Angeles Times.
• He was a "Buddhist traveler" who had "a philosophical, even religious desire—to search for something more," writes Justin Wm. Moyer in the Washington Post.

• Rolling Stone has a fairly thorough obituary covering his life in and out of Hollywood. He never married.
• Here's a 1981 appearance on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, apparently his first spot on national TV.
• And some other memorable clips, collected by Today.
• Jessica Seinfeld posted an Instagram photo of husband Jerry laughing with Shandling as they taped an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. "We have been crying/laughing/crying ..."
• Indeed, the likes of Seinfeld, Larry David, and Tina Fey owe Shandling a huge debt, and Brian Moylan at the Guardian explains why.
• Conan O'Brien recalls how Shandling helped him at a particularly low point, via the Daily Beast.
• USA Today rounds up tributes from fellow stars on Twitter.

Click for some of Shandling's best moments. (More Garry Shandling stories.)