Music producer David Gest has died at the age of 62, the Associated Press reports. Gest, Liza Minnelli‘s fourth ex-husband, passed away at the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Wharf in London on Tuesday, April 12.
Gest’s friend Imad Handi announced the news in a statement. “It is with great sadness that I can confirm that David Gest has died today,” Handi said, via BBC News. “David was truly larger than life. He was not just a huge talent and a dear friend but a showbiz icon. I know he will be missed by millions of fans around the world, and particularly in Britain, who came to love his charm and blistering one-liners.”
Handi added: “If I may steal the words of one eminent critic, David was a natural star and a genuine celebrity. I will miss him desperately.”
According to BBC News, the London Metropolitan Police were called to the Four Seasons hotel at 10:17 a.m. on Tuesday. Gest was pronounced dead at the scene. Police don’t believe that there is anything suspicious surrounding his death.
“A post-mortem will be held in due course,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. “Next of kin are in the process of being informed.”
Gest is best known for appearing on shows such as Celebrity Big Brother and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, and for producing the documentary The Life of an Icon about his close friend, the late Michael Jackson.
Gest also made several headlines throughout his relationship with Minnelli, 70. The exes married in 2002 and separated the following year. They officially divorced in 2007.
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