Richard Lewis dead at 76: Revered comedian, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ actor suffered from Parkinson’s disease
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Richard Lewis, the wild, eccentric, ultra-neurotic stand-up comedian and comic actor who most recently served as a semi-regular alongside Larry David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is dead. He was 76. Lewis suffered a fatal heart attack Tuesday night less than a year after announcing in April 2023 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from performing stand-up comedy. Lewis’ death was confirmed by his publicist Jeff Abraham, who noted, “His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for the love, friendship and support and asks everyone for privacy at this time.”
He appeared this month on the 12th and final season of “Curb” after begging off of the show in its 11th season while recovering from a series of surgeries. But he wound up shooting a scene in an episode that year, anyway.
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A beloved and respected comedian known to be the kind of comic that others couldn’t help but admire, Lewis, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947, first tried his hand at stand-up comedy in 1971 and took to it immediately. His contemporaries on the 1970s stand-up circuit included Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer and Elayne Boosler.
He rose to prominence in the 1980s and became known for his dark, self-deprecating, wildly energetic style. He was taken under the wing of fellow comedian David Brenner, who introduced Lewis to he comedy club circuit in Los Angeles and helped him get his first key appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” He would appear numerous times with Carson and on “Late Night with David Letterman” and then “Late Show with David Letterman” throughout the 1980s and ’90s and into the new millennium.
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Lewis was open in his act about his struggles with alcoholism, drug addiction (he admitted to heavy use of cocaine and crystal meth) and depression. He would be clad in his trademark all-black attire, pace around the stage and gesticulate manically during his act. That signature tone was vividly on display during a series of HBO stand-up specials, including “I’m Exhausted” (1988), “I’m Doomed” (1990) and “Richard Lewis: The Magical Misery Tour” (1997).
In 1989, Lewis was cast opposite Jamie Lee Curtis on the somewhat traditional ABC sitcom “Anything But Love,” which ran for four seasons and 56 episodes before ending in 1992. He also had roles in several other comedies, including “Daddy Dearest” starring Don Rickles and “Hiller and Diller” with Kevin Nealon. He also had roles in the movies “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” in 1993 and the 1995 feature “Leaving Las Vegas” that won Nicolas Cage a 1996 Oscar.
Lewis played a fictionalized version of himself on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as a foil to star David throughout the 24 years of the show, and that’s how most of today’s television audiences best know him. In 2021, upon returning to “Curb” after enduring numerous health struggles, he told Variety, “I’ve devoted my life to comedy and my sobriety the last almost 27 years. I’m overwhelmed with joy right now. I never learned how to keep joy in my head for more than a minute, but I’m breaking all records for my life today.”
He is survived by his wife Joyce.
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