Comedian Sam Kinison was killed in a car crash Friday night, said his publicist, Florence Troutman.

The crashed occurred on U.S. Highway 95 near the desert community of Needles, about 250 miles east of Los Angeles, said Roy Jernigan, entertainment director at Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nev., where the comedian was to appear Friday night.Jernigan said Kinison was taken to Needles Desert Community Hospital. A man who answered the phone at the hospital Friday night hung up.

Kinison, the self-proclaimed rock 'n' roll comedian, created a character who bellowed and screamed his way through such topics as Christ's last words, starvation in Ethiopia and the evils of women, marriage and sex.

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He also starred in "Charlie Hoover" on Fox Broadcasting Co.

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