MUMBAI: Talk show .comedian Charlie Callas has passed away at the age of 83. Known for his fast-paced speech, Charlie was often incorporating a stutter into his routine.

Callas was a favourite guest of Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson as well as a regular on The Andy Williams Show and The ABC Comedy Hour.
He gave his zany antics a rest in 1975 starring in the crime show Switch.

"There were two things he could do that made his career," Tony Belmont, executive director of the National Comedy Hall of Fame in St. Petersburg, Fla. had said in a recent interview. "He could think very fast on his feet and had an unbelievable number of sounds that he made with his voice," Belmont added.

Johnny Carson had Charlie do his stand-up routines on the Tonight Show nearly 50 times, until 21 September, 1982, when the thick friends ended their relationship.

Charlie may have not appeared on the Tonight Show anymore but he was always welcome at big time celebrity gatherings and left crowds in stitches always.