Richard Lewis, a Brooklyn-born comedian and recurring guest on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 76.
His cause of death was a heart attack, a rep for the actor confirmed.
Lewis announced in April of last year that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up comedy. At the time, he had recently wrapped the 12th and final season of “Curb” — currently airing on HBO.
Lewis previously missed filming most of the 11th season of the sitcom while recovering from a series of surgeries.
Born in Brooklyn on June 29, 1947, Lewis was raised in New Jersey and later studied marketing at Ohio State. After graduating, he moved back to New York City to work as an advertising copywriter by day and perform at open mics by night.
He developed his trademark neurotic and self-deprecating style during that time, touching on subjects like his alcohol abuse and struggles with mental health.
Lewis was discovered by comedian David Brenner while performing in the early 1970s at a club in Greenwich Village. Brenner offered to help a young Lewis launch his career, introducing him to others in the industry and landing him his first spot on “The Tonight Show.”
By 1975, publications including the Daily News were naming Lewis among the “new breed” of comedians, alongside the likes of Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Andy Kaufman.
On top of appearances on late-night talk shows, Lewis was also beamed into people’s homes in several stand-up specials, including 1985’s “I’m in Pain” and 1997’s “Magical Misery Tour,” the latter of which has been hailed as his best show of all time.
Between 1989 and 1992, he starred alongside Jamie Lee Curtis in the ABC sitcom “Anything But Love” and served as a celebrity spokesman for adult-aimed juice box brand Boku, appearing in a number of offbeat ads.
He also popped up in a variety of films, including Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (playing the feckless Prince John) and “Leaving Las Vegas.” In 1994, he starred in the comedy-western “Wagons East” alongside John Candy, whose untimely death earlier that year partly inspired Lewis to get sober. In turn, Jamie Lee Curtis credits Lewis for her own sobriety.
“I’ve devoted my life to comedy and my sobriety the last almost 27 years,” he told Variety in 2021.
However, it was “Curb Your Enthusiasm” that arguably gave Lewis his biggest stage, a new audience and the chance to work with lifelong friend Larry David. He appeared in more than 40 episodes of the series over 24 years, including the 2000 pilot.
A recent episode featured Lewis and David arguing about putting each other in their wills before deciding to get healthier and outlive each other out of spite.
“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,” David said in a statement Wednesday. “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.”
Lewis is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky, to whom he was married since 2005.
