Jack Burns dead at 85 – The Muppet Show co-creator and comedy partner to George Carlin passes away

THE Muppet Show co-creator Jack Burns has died at the age of 85, according to reports.

The comic is said to have died of respiratory failure in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, on Monday.

He had been living in senior care for the past two years, according to the .

And he had celebrated his 31st year of sobriety in December, his manager Peter Santana is quoted as saying.

Burns kicked off his comedy career as one half of a comedy duo with the original Saturday Night Live host George Carlin.

The pair performed at The Playboy Club in Los Angeles and on The Tonight Show With Jack Paar.

He’s gone to the big comedy club in the sky.”

Kelly Carlin, comedy partner George's daughter

Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, paid tribute to Burns on Twitter yesterday.

She wrote:  “A foundational piece of the Carlin legacy has gone to the big comedy club in the sky.

“Jack was one of the sharpest motherf***ers I knew.

“He shaped my father’s mind in unique ways. RIP Jack Burns.”

Burns is perhaps most famous for his work as the head writer and producer on The Muppet Show.

He wrote for the show for three years and on 28 episodes.

The funnyman later returned to the franchise to write The Muppet Movie with Jerry Juhl in 1979, as well as Muppet Video: Country Music With the Muppets and Fozzie’s Muppet Scrapbook in 1985.

Burns also ended up in roles on The Partridge Family, Happy Days and Getting Together after a stint on The Andy Griffith Show playing Deputy Sheriff Warren Ferguson.

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