Richard Lewis, first known for his stand-up comedy and then for 24 years of the quirky comedy series with Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” has died at the age of 76 from a heart attack. He had revealed last year that he was living with Parkinson’s disease. In the last few years he had had numerous health problems. “I’ve had sort of a rocky time,” he said, revealing he’d undergone back surgery, shoulder surgery, shoulder replacement surgery and hip replacement surgery. “I had four surgeries, back-to-back -to- back. It was incredible… It was bad luck, but it’s life,” Lewis said.
Lewis who was an actor and writer as well as a stand-up comedian, gained prominence in the 1980s and became known for his dark, neurotic, and self-deprecating humor.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lewis was raised in Englewood, New Jersey. His family is Jewish but not especially religious. His father was co-owner of Ambassador Caterers in nearby Teaneck, New Jersey, while his mother was an actress in community theatre. His father’s catering business kept him busy, and his siblings had both left home by the 1960s, leaving Lewis at home alone with his mother, with whom he did not get along. One of jokes was that he suspected his birth had been a mistake.
Lewis first tried stand-up at an open-mic night in Greenwich Village in 1971. He began writing and performing stand-up comedy regularly while working as a copywriter for an advertising agency during the day. Comedian David Brenner discovered him while performing in Greenwich Village and helped introduce him to comedy clubs in Los Angeles. By the mid-1970s, Lewis had appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and he was recognized as part of the new breed of comedians alongside names like Robert Klein, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer, and Elayne Boosler.
Lewis’s influences include Buster Keaton, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, and Richard Pryor. He is known for dark comedy, self-deprecation, and frank discussions of his many neuroses as well as his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction.
Lewis’ film roles include the 1993 comedy “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” the 1995 drama “Leaving Las Vegas” and the 1997 rom-com “Hugo Pool.” In “Drunks” — starring an ensemble including Faye Dunaway, George Martin, Parker Posey, Howard Rollins, Spalding Gray and Dianne Wiest — Lewis played a struggling alcoholic and drug addict.
In 2021, upon returning to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” after various health struggles, Lewis 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.”
Lewis is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.
