NEW YORK — Richard Lewis, an accomplished comedian known for addressing his neuroses in furious, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while clad in all-black, earning him the nickname “The Prince of Pain,” has passed away. He was 76.
Lewis, who revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, died at home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after a heart attack, according to his publicist, Jeff Abraham.
Lewis, a regular performer in clubs and on late-night T.V. for decades, also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series “Anything But Love” and the consistently neurotic Prince John in “Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.” He reintroduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” kvetching frequently.
“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 said in a statement. “He had the unusual combination of being the funniest and the sweetest. But tonight he made me cry, and for that I will never forgive him.”
Humorously Morose Comedian Richard Lewis, Who Recently Starred On ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ Dies At 76
Lewis was rated one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central, and he appeared on G.Q. magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He donated his humour to charitable initiatives such as Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.
“Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session,” said the Los Angeles Times in 2014. The Philadelphia City Paper described him as “the Jimi Hendrix of monologists.” Mel Brooks has stated that he “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy.”
Comedians went to social media Wednesday to express their sympathies, including Albert Books, who described Lewis as “a brilliantly funny man who will be missed by all.” “The world needed him now more than ever,” according to X, formerly Twitter. Bette Midler, Michael McKean, and Paul Feig paid tribute to Lewis, describing him as “one of the funniest people on the planet.”
Following his graduation from Ohio State University in 1969, the New York-born Lewis embarked on a stand-up career, refining his skills on the circuit alongside fellow newcomers Jay Leno, Freddie Prinze, and Billy Crystal.
He recalls Rodney Dangerfield paying him $75 to fill in at his New York club, Dangerfield’s. “I had a lot of amazing friends early on who believed in me, and I met some iconic people who really supported me and encouraged me to keep working on my content. And I never looked back,” he told The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colorado 2010.
“I am paranoid about everything in my life, even at home. “I don’t like having a rear-view mirror on my stationary bike,” he jokingly remarked onstage. He told Jimmy Kimmel, “This morning, I tried to go to bed.” I could not sleep. I counted sheep, but I only had six, and they all had hip replacements.
Unlike contemporaneous Robin Williams, Lewis let spectators inside his world of sadness, bringing his misery and pain to the stage. Fans compared him favourably to Lenny Bruce, the groundbreaking comic.
Humorously Morose Comedian Richard Lewis, Who Recently Starred On ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ Dies At 76
“I take great pains not to be mean-spirited,” Lewis told The Palm Beach Post in 2007. “I don’t want to accept true disadvantages that people must overcome without hope. I steer clear of that. That is not hilarious to me. Tragedy is hilarious to other humorists, but not to me unless you can make a useful point.
Billy Joel referred to Lewis in his song “My Life” when he sang about an old acquaintance who “bought a ticket to the West Coast/Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.”
In 1989, at Carnegie Hall, he performed with six feet of yellow legal papers crammed with material and put together for a 2½-hour concert that led to two standing ovations. The night was “the highlight of my career,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.
Lewis told G.Q. His characteristic style arose by chance; he claims that his passion for wearing black stemmed from watching the television Western “Have Gun – Will Travel,” which featured a cowboy dressed entirely in black as a child. He also popularized the phrase “from hell”—as in “the date from hell” or “the job from hell.”
“That just came out of my head one day, and I kept repeating it for whatever reason, similarly, with the black clothing. I felt incredibly comfortable from the early 1980s, and I never wore anything else. I’ve never looked back.
After quitting drugs and alcohol in 1994, Lewis published his memoirs “The Other Great Depression” and “Reflections from Hell” in 2008. The former is a compilation of frank, essay-style reflections on his life.
Lewis was the youngest of three siblings; his brother was six years older than him, and his sister was nine. His father died at a young age, and his mother suffered from emotional problems. “She didn’t understand me at all. My mother is responsible for my professional success. “I should have given her my agent’s commission,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.
“Looking back on it now, as a full-blown, middle-aged, functioning anxiety collector, I can admit without cringing that my parents had their fair share of tremendous qualities, yet, being human much of the day, had more than just a handful of flaws as well,” he writes in his book.
Humorously Morose Comedian Richard Lewis, Who Recently Starred On ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ Dies At 76
Lewis instantly discovered a new family while performing at New York’s Improv. “I was 23, and everyone was watching me, including Steve Allen and Bette Midler. David Brenner definitely took me under his wing. Driving home to my tiny dump in New Jersey frequently knowing that Steve Allen said, ‘You got it,’ that affirmation kept me going in a significant sense.”
In “Leaving Las Vegas,” he made a brief appearance, which led to his first significant dramatic part as Jimmy Epstein, an addict struggling for his life in the independent film “Drunks.” He portrayed Don Rickles’ son on one “Daddy Dearest” season and a rabbi on “7th Heaven.”
Lewis’ recurring presence on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” can be directly attributed to his connection with fellow comedian, producer, and series star Larry David. Both native Brooklynites, born in the same Brooklyn hospital, met and became rivals at the same summer camp when they were 13. He was cast from the start, fighting with David about overdue invoices and basic courtesy.
He is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.
SOURCE – (AP)
