Jay Michael Leggett, actor, died at 50

  Dead Famous

Dead, Jay Michael Leggett, he was an American actor, improvisational comedian, producer, director, and screenwriter, died from a heart attack on November 23, 2013 at the age of 50.

He began his career in Chicago studying with improv legend Del Close before moving to Hollywood to join the cast of the Fox TV series In Living Color.

Leggett has appeared on dozens of national TV programs including the pilot for the NBC series E.R..

He wrote, co-starred, and produced the feature film Employee Of The Month, starring Matt Dillon and Christina Applegate.

That film was an official selection to The Sundance Film Festival.

Leggett also wrote the Paramount Pictures feature film Without A Paddle starring Dax Shepard and Seth Green.

He also produced and starred in the Spike TV series Factory, and produced and directed the documentary To The Hunt, which gave viewers a look into hunting culture through the stories of several different hunting shacks in Lincoln County, Wisconsin.

Leggett, who grew up in Tomahawk, performed with The Improv Olympic in Chicago, a company that included Mike Meyers, Chris Farley and Andy Richter.

He left the company to join the cast of “In Living Color” for the TV sketch comedy series’ 1993 season.

He acted in many other TV shows after moving to Los Angeles, but he also became a screenwriter.

He wrote, produced and acted in the 2004 comedy film “Employee of the Month,” starring Matt Dillon.

At the time of his death, Leggett was the lead instructor at Comedy Now L.A., teaching improv, acting and writing.

Andy Devine, the co-creator and star of Comedy Central’s “Workaholics,” called Leggett his “guru.”

The actor died at a family cabin in Tomahawk, Wis., where he grew up.

Though Leggett lived in Los Angeles, he frequently returned to Tomahawk and even made a 2010 documentary, To the Hunt: Deer Season in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, about the region’s deer hunting culture.