Richard Lewis Dead At 76
He was devilishly funny, with a wit and a sardonic side that tempered his laughs with profound truth. Raised in Bergen County, Richard Lewis succumbed to a heart attack at 76 on February 27. We loved his last act as himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show’s creator and star, Larry David, told IndieWire, “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me. He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.” He was on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson 22 times. He was on Late Night With David Letterman 48 times. He was in movies and on The Larry Sanders Show, Two and a Half Men and Everybody Hates Chris. In one of his last TV appearances, he joked about death.
But it was on a stage, alone, in a room full of people, where he shined the brightest. Like Johnny Cash, he always dressed in black. He joked about his neurotic nature, calling himself “The Prince of Pain.” He performed at a sold-out Carnegie Hall in 1989 doing two and a half hours of original material which garnered two standing ovations. His HBO special was called “The Magical Misery Tour.” He made fun of his addiction, alcoholism, depression and even wrote a book called “Reflections From Hell.” Yet through it all, despite a rough childhood, he moved back to New Jersey after graduating Ohio State with a marketing degree.
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He told Vanity Fair, “I’m a recovered drunk who happens to have Parkinson’s, but I’m a comedian and an actor and an author and a writer so I just own it and I wear it that way. Of course, when I finish this interview, I’ll break down and cry and start screaming. But why show you everything?”