Comedian Carrot Top hospitalized and recovering, representative says

Comedian Carrot Top in Las Vegas in 2018. Gabe Ginsberg / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleSept. 19, 2026, 1:57 PM EDTBy Phil HelselComedian Carrot Top has been hospitalized and is recovering, his representative said Saturday.

“Mr. Thompson is recovering in the hospital and is receiving the care and support he needs,” his representative Jami Schlicher said in a statement using his real name, Scott Thompson. “His family and those closest to him are deeply grateful for the concern, prayers and respectfully ask for privacy.”

The representative did not disclose why the 61-year-old performer was hospitalized or provide further details about his condition.

Carrot Top, 61, is known for prop comedy, multicolor outfits and his large and unruly mane of red hair.

He has had a residency at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas that began in 2005.

Born in Florida, and raised in Cocoa Beach, Carrot Top appeared on “Star Search” in 1991, and even though he lost, he still impressed. Three years later, he won the American Comedy Award for funniest male stand-up comic.

In 1995, Jay Leno introduced Carrot Top on the “Tonight Show” as “the comedian taking America by storm.”

He came out in a dress that converted to pants, and had two trunks of props — including a pasta strainer to be worn dangling from a belt to dissuade sniffing dogs, and three baseball bats “for replacement players so they’ll get a hit.”

Carrot Top’s reception in film and television was mixed. In 1999 he got a “Razzie” award for his role in the box office bomb “Chairman of the Board,” which came out the previous year.

Carrot Top also played himself in “Pauly Shore Is Dead,” which came out in 2003, and appeared occasionally in television shows, including in an episode of “Hacks” in 2024.

He was also a voice actor of himself in episodes of “Family Guy” and “Robot Chicken,” and acted as a driver in “Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens” and as Blartie in an episode of “Glee.”

He was also a frequent guest on the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, which raised money for muscular dystrophy, and Lewis called him “marvelous.”

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Phil HelselPhil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.