Howard Loses a Wack Packer
The Wack Pack is in mourning.
Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, a stand-up comedian who joined Howard Stern's motley crew of cutups, has died in police custody. He was 39.
Kallenbach was awaiting trial on charges stemming from a March arrest (he allegedly tried to entice an underage girl into his car) and came down with a severe case of pneumonia while in lockup.
After being transferred to a suburban Philadelphia hospital, Kallenbach died early Thursday due to complications from his illness.
Stern announced the news during his Sirius Satellite Radio show after receiving an update from Howard 100 news reporter Steve Langford.
Langford had spoken with Kallenbach's mother, who said her son had suffered from cystic fibrosis. Pneumonia is particularly deadly for those who have such a disease.
Kallenbach was among a group of Wack Packers who periodically popped up on Stern's old terrestrial radio program and his now defunct E! Entertainment show.
The comic was known for performing bizarro stunts, like pulling a cooked chicken out of his pants and smearing it all over his face, lighting firecrackers from his genitals and attempting (unsuccessfully) to blow smoke from his eyes.
In his 1993 autobiography, Private Parts, Stern dubbed Kallenbach the "ultimate airhead."
Kallenbach, who hailed from Boothwyn, Pa., made several appearances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and starred in commercials for ESPN's Monday Night Football.
He also had uncredited parts in HBO's Sex and the City and such films as Jerry Maguire and Girl, Interrupted.
In March, he was taken into custody in Upper Chichester Township, Pa., on one count of attempted child abduction. He denied the charge.
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