Robert Schimmel, a standup comedian, writer and actor known for his startlingly candid observations about the world, often inspired by the many challenges of his own life, had died. Schimmel died in a Phoenix hospital on September 3, 2010, after sustaining serious injuries in a car accident that occurred on August 26. He was 60.

According to news reports, Schimmel was a passenger in a car driven by his 19-year-old daughter Aliyah. His daughter reportedly swerved to avoid another car and the vehicle she was driving rolled to the side of the freeway. She is hospitalized in stable condition.

Robert Schimmel, who lived in Scottsdale, Arizona, was a frequent guest on talk shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien and on Howard Stern's radio show. He also published a 2008 memoir, Cancer on $5 a Day (Chemo Not Included), about his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In 2000, the onetime stereo salesman starred in Schimmel, a Fox sitcom that had to be canceled after he learned he had cancer and needed to begin chemotherapy immediately.

In addition to his work as a performer, Schimmel was a writer for the television series In Living Color and various other comedy projects.

He is survived by his father, a sister, a brother, Jeffrey, and his second wife, Melissa, with whom he was in the process of a divorce. He is also survived by three children from his first marriage and two sons from his second marriage.