Curb Your Enthusiasm star dead at 76
Richard Lewis, the comedian and actor known for starring alongside Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died aged 76.
Richard Lewis, the comedian and actor known for starring alongside Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died aged 76.
Lewis died peacefully at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, his publicist told the Hollywood Reporter. “His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Jeff Abraham said.
Lewis previously announced that he had had Parkinson’s disease diagnosed. The condition forced him to stop performing stand-up comedy and to take a break from Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Known as the “Prince of Pain” for his willingness to mine his own misfortune for material, Lewis was acclaimed for his frantic, self-deprecating, stream-of-consciousness stand-up.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, he spent decades performing in clubs and on late-night TV, while also having a series of scripted television roles. He starred opposite Jamie Lee Curtis in the series Anything But Love and played Prince John in Mel Brooks’s Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Comedy Central named Lewis one of the 50 top stand-up comedians of all time. But it will be Curb Your Enthusiasm for which Lewis is best remembered. Like David, 76, Lewis played a heightened version of himself over 24 years of the boundary-pushing comedy, most recently appearing in the twelfth and final season.
David shared a tribute to Lewis through HBO, saying: “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.”
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