Richard Lewis, the actor and comic regarded for his lengthy-walking stand-up profession and ordinary function on the hit HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” has died at 76, his publicist introduced Wednesday.
The reason for death was a heart attack, the publicist, Jeff Abraham, stated.
Lewis became a fixture of the comedy membership circuit for many years, and his angst tortured act led to many TV and film roles. After performing on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” he rose to prominence on the sitcom “Anything but Love” with Jamie Lee Curtis. He additionally starred in the movie “Drunks” and performed Prince John in the 1993 journey comedy movie “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.”
Lewis has been playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the course of the 24 years of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Lewis — who had acknowledged the display’s author, Larry David, due to the fact they met at summer camp at age 12 — turned into a wonderfully irksome foil to the already curmudgeonly protagonist.
“Richard and I were born three days apart inside the identical health facility, and for the maximum of my life, he has been like a brother to me,” David said in a declaration on Wednesday. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest man or woman and also the sweetest. But nowadays, he made me sob, and for that, I’ll never forgive him.”
In April of last year, Lewis said he was retiring from stand-up and revealed he had Parkinson’s disease, which he was identified with two years in the past, in a video posted on social media.
“His spouse, Joyce Lapinsky, thank you, everyone, for all of the love, friendship and assistance and ask for privacy at this time,” Abraham stated in a statement.
Born in New York, Lewis studied and frequently drew comparisons to Lenny Bruce for his riffing, neurotic crowd paintings. In his several comedy specials, “The Prince of Pain,” as Lewis acknowledged, frequently turned on the receiving end of the punchline.
“His honesty is the main ingredient of his humor. Richard has a bad dating record with himself — maximum comedians do — but he can express it,” David instructed The Washington Post in a profile of Lewis posted in 2020.
Lewis additionally posted two books, “The Other Great Depression,” a memoir in which he unfolded his struggles with repute and drug and alcohol use, and “Reflections from Hell,” a book that used inventive illustrations to seize Lewis’s dark comedic “premises.”
“We are heartbroken. His comedic brilliance, wit, and expertise have been unequaled,” HBO said in an assertion. “Richard will constantly be a loved member of the HBO and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” families. Our heartfelt condolences go to his circle of relatives, buddies, and all of the fans who ought to count on Richard to embellish their days with laughter.”
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