Richard Lewis passed away at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham.
Richard Lewis was a regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for several decades. Lewis rose to prominence in the 1980s and ’90s with appearances on The Tonight Show and the Late Show With David Letterman, which Lewis appeared 48 times.
He played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series Anything But Love. He played neurotic Prince John in Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights. For a new generation to discover this comedian, he played opposite Larry David in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm.
He would take time to tell the people he loved what they meant to him. 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.
I love you Richard. You will be missed. #RichardLewis pic.twitter.com/7zJzKVPSfH— Cheryl Hines (@CherylHines) February 28, 2024
We are heartbroken to learn that Richard Lewis has passed away. His comedic brilliance, wit and talent were unmatched. Richard will always be a cherished member of the HBO and Curb Your Enthusiasm families. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and all the fans… pic.twitter.com/tNaQEqzhF1
— HBO (@HBO) February 28, 2024
He was among the best-known stand-up comedians of the late 1980s. He played a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall in 1989, receiving two standing ovations for two and a half hours of material.
Richard Philip Lewis was born on June 2, 1947, in Brooklyn, in the same hospital as his friend and future co-star, Mr. David, and just three days before him. His family soon moved to Englewood, N.J. His father, Bill Lewis, owned a kosher catering business, and his mother, Blanche (Goldberg) Lewis, acted in community theater, specializing in the Jewish mother characters in Neil Simon plays.
Mr. Lewis was open about his struggles with alcohol, drugs and depression. He became sober in the mid-1990s and wrote about his experience in his 2000 memoir, The Other Great Depression: How I’m Overcoming, on a Daily Basis, at Least a Million Addictions and Dysfunctions and Finding a Spiritual (Sometimes) Life.”
He revised the book, with a new foreword, and republished it in 2008. He also wrote Reflections From Hell: Richard Lewis’ Guide on How Not to Live (2015).
