Gay Fast Times at Ridgemont High Actor Taylor Negron Has Died

From Seinfeld and The Hughleys to The Last Boy Scout and Easy Money, this great character actor will be missed in Los Angeles's LGBT and comedy worlds.

Diane Anderson-Minshall

Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.

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Diane Anderson-Minshall

January 11 2015 2:28 PM EST

November 05 2017 10:32 PM EST

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Actor and comedian Taylor Negron, who first rose to fame as the pizza guy on Fast Times at Ridgemont High, has died after a long battle with cancer, according to Deadline.

Taylor's cousin Chuck Negron (from the band Three Dog Night) posted a teary-eyed video announcing, "We just lost a wonderful man, my cousin Taylor Negron."

The 57-year-old actor started doing stand-up in high school, interned for and learned from Lucille Ball when he was only 19 , and made his acting debut in the 1982 comedy Young Doctors in Love. Soon came other roles -- Fast Times, Stuart Little, Easy Money, Angels in the Outfield, Nothing But Trouble, and, notably, as the bad guy in Bruce Willis's The Last Boy Scout.

He was a regular guest star on television as well, including Seinfeld, The Hughleys, Hollywood Squares, ER, Party of Five, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Wizards of Waverly Place, among others. He also appeared at LGBT pride events and on stage with gay performers.

Taylor (below) at a fundraiser for The Actors Fund in 2014 (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz)

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Deadline reports that the out gay actor -- a fixture in the Los Angeles comedy scene -- had recently been appearing at "Un-Cabaret (where he is considered one of the monologue's shows original members), The Moth and Comedy Central Stage's Sit-n-Spin among many other shows. He also performed in fellow comedians' projects such as Melinda Hill's web series Romantic Encounters. Negron won best award for the series from LA webfest."