Comedian Paul Rodriguez has revealed that his best friend Donald Serrato died in his house at the age of 50 on Thursday.

Serrato had sold his own home in Torrance and was staying at Rodriguez' residence in the Los Angeles area for some days before moving to Montana. 

Law enforcement sources said the authorities believe Serrato died of natural causes, and do not suspect drugs or foul play were involved.

Rodriguez feels Serrato's alleged heavy drinking and smoking - as well as his grief over two bereavements in his family - may have contributed to his demise.

He explained that he left the house at about 6am Thursday to go to a film shoot and then rang Serrato at approximately 12pm to make lunch plans.

However he received no answer to his phone call, so he contacted Serrato's girlfriend who then visited the house to check in on him, he told TMZ.

The girlfriend arrived at Rodriguez' residence and was confronted with the sight of Serrato in bed, where he had turned blue.

She and a friend of hers rang the emergency services, and a 911 operator walked them through their attempts to perform CPR, but Serrato had died already.

Insiders in law enforcement stated they received a call at around 12:30pm Thursday with regards to a man who was not breathing.

Emergency services responded by visiting Rodriguez' home and finding Serrato, whom they pronounced dead on the scene.

Rodriguez, who was born in Sinaloa before immigrating to Compton with his family, has been a comedian for more than four decades. 

He is a regular on the stand-up circuit, and is one of the elite group of comedians whose photos are on the wall of the iconic Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

Early in his career, Rodriguez even led the cast of his own sitcom a.k.a. Pablo in 1984, thought it was canceled after six episodes.

Over the years, fans have seen him on top television programs including The Golden Girls, Touched By An Angel and The Twilight Zone. 

He has also lent his voice to cartoons like King Of The Hill, Dora The Explorer and The Proud Family, and the animated film Cats & Dogs: The Return Of Kitty Galore.

Rodriguez has featured in live-action movies like the 2002 Clint Eastwood film Blood Work and the 2021 release Clifford The Big Red Dog. 

He has just written and directed a crime comedy called Holy Cash, starring him amid a cast that includes comic Aries Spears.

His son is a famous skateboarder also called Paul Rodriguez, who goes by P-Rod on social media and boats over a million followers on Instagram.