Leo Gallagher, the watermelon-smashing comic known as Gallagher, has died. He was 76.

His former manager, Craig Marquardo, told The Hollywood Reporter that Gallagher had died on Nov. 11 after a short health battle, surrounded by his family in Palm Springs, California.

The legendary comic had previously suffered a host of heart attacks, something he and David Letterman talked about during an appearance on TV. Gallagher became a household name in 1980 with his comedy special, ‘An Uncensored Evening’, which was directed by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees band.

That was seen as among the first comedy stand up special to air on cable television. Gallagher did in all 12 comedy specials for Showtime over 27 years, with only George Carlin doing more.

But Gallagher’s biggest comic touch employed a sledgehammer. He became famous for using a hand-made sledgehammer he dubbed the ‘Sledge-O-Matic’, where he would smash food onstage and spray it into the audience.