Tributes pour in after death of Richard Lewis: ‘brilliant comedian,’ stalwart friend

Whether they spent just a few moments with him, guest-starred on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or had longstanding relationships over entire careers, those whose lives Richard Lewis touched remembered a kind, from-the-heart comedian who often had them in stitches.

Social media was awash with scene snippets, faux bickering sessions and sweet snaps shared by co-stars and fans alike in the wake of the actor’s death this week at the age of 76.

“Curb” headliner Larry David, who was born just three days after Lewis in the same Brooklyn hospital, said the comedian was “like a brother to me.”

Lewis played that role for others as well, including newscaster and commentator Keith Olbermann, who wrote on X, “I have never had a brother. From the day he came up and said hi in 1989, Richard Lewis and I called each other ‘brother.’ I used to kid him: if people knew how good and kind a person he was, it would ruin his career.”

Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred opposite Lewis in the 1989-1992 sitcom “Anything But Love,” recalled a “wonderful actor” who was “deep and so freaking funny.” She shared how he “blew everyone else away” in his audition just by mispronouncing the word “Bundt cake,” which she said had her snorting in laughter.

Comedy great Mel Brooks, with whom he starred in Brooks’ 1993’s “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” said he’d been lucky to get to work with Lewis in the film, “but I was even luckier to have him in my life.”

To Ben Stiller, Lewis was a family friend.

“I never met a kinder, more empathetic comedy genius,” Stiller wrote on X. “He was so funny. And deep…. Cool, funny, self-deprecating and hip.”

“Curb” co-star Cheryl Hines meanwhile remembered someone who never missed an opportunity to express appreciation.

“He would take time to tell the people he loved what they meant to him,” Hines wrote on social media. “In between takes on ‘Curb,’ he would tell me how special I was to him and how much he loved me. To be loved by Richard Lewis. A true gift.”

Lewis had a profound impact on the comedy world overall, noted Journey Gunderson, executive director of the National Comedy Center. As “part of a changing of the guard in stand-up history during the 1970s, his work exemplified and anticipated the deeply personal, raw, introspective and yes, neurotic, tone that has come to color so much contemporary comedy.”

HBO, currently airing the 12th and final season of “Curb,” marked the loss as well, stating, “His comedic brilliance, wit and talent were unmatched.”

With News Wire Services