American actor and comedian Garry Shandling has died in Los Angeles.
The cause of the 66-year-old's death has not been disclosed, but sources told US entertainment site TMZ that he suffered a "massive heart attack".
Firefighters were called to an LA address on Thursday morning and Shandling was taken to the city's St John's Hospital by ambulance. He was later pronounced dead.
Ricky Gervais was among the first to pay tribute, tweeting: "RIP the great Garry Shandling. Surely, one of the most influential comedians of a generation."
Chicago-born Shandling was best known for creating and starring in The Larry Sanders Show, where he played an exaggerated version of himself as the host of a fictional late-night talk show.
The sitcom originally aired between 1992 and 1998 and featured guest appearances from the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, who tweeted: "Garry Shandling was one of the most brilliant people I have ever known. A shocking huge loss."
The award-winning show's fly-on-the-wall style helped inspire a host of other comedies such as Gervais' The Office.
Shandling also co-wrote and starred alongside John Goodman and Annette Bening in the 2000 comedy sci-fi What Planet Are You From?, and had a role in The Jungle Book film due to be released next month.
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