Updated

By Eric GolubBlogger

Farewell, Captain Chaos.

The great ones leave us way too soon. Dom DeLuise has left the road on Earth for the big racetrack in the sky.

As a young boy, Burt Reynolds was my hero. Yet every hero needs a sidekick, and Burt Reynolds became as great as he was with considerable comic relief from the equally great Dom DeLuise.

As a favor to the Republican Party, Dom DeLuise helped attempt to deliver a pregnant elephant in "Smokey and the Bandit II." Yet his hilarity peaked with "Cannonball Run" and "Cannonball Run II."

Burt Reynolds was the cool guy everybody wanted to be and hang out with. Yet he was so serious about having fun that he often forgot how to actually have fun. Dom DeLuise truly just wanted to have fun. Winning was secondary.

To read the complete Big Hollywood column, click here.