How Curb Your Enthusiasm Paid Tribute to the Late Richard Lewis

The entertainment world is continuing to mourn the loss of Richard Lewis, after the actor and comedian passed away on Tuesday at the age of 76. Lewis, who passed away due to a heart attack, is known for a number of movies and television shows, including a stint portraying a fictionalized version of himself on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. The series, which is currently in the middle of its final season, acknowledged Lewis' death during their most recent episode. During the opening of Sunday's episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the series showed a title card paying tribute to Lewis. "In memory of Richard Lewis. 1947 – 2024," the title card reads.

"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," series star and creator Larry David wrote in a statement after Lewis' passing. "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."

Born on June 29, 19447 in Brooklyn, New York, Lewis entered the stand-up comedy community in the early 1970s, making appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in a matter of years. By 1979, Lewis made his onscreen debut in 1979's NBC TV movie Diary of a Young Comic, a film that he also co-wrote. In addition to multiple comedy specials and late night talk show appearances, Lewis thrived in the late 1980s and early 1990s through projects like the sitcom Anything But Love alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as Daddy Dearest, Hiller and Diller, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Outside of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lewis' onscreen roles in the 21st century included 7th Heaven, Alias, Two and a Half Men, Vamps, Sandy Wexler, The Dead Zone, Code Black, BoJack Horseman, and 'Til Death. Lewis stepped away from his role on Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2021, in order to recover from multiple surgeries.

"Two years ago, I started walking a little stiffly. I was shuffling my feet and I went to a neurologist and they gave me a brain scan and I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. And that was two years ago," Lewis revealed last year. "But luckily, I got it late in life and they say it progresses very slowly if at all. And I'm on the right meds so I'm cool. I just wanted you to know that's where it's been at. I'm finished with stand up. I'm just focusing on writing and acting. I have Parkinson's Disease, but I'm under a doctor's care, and everything is cool. And I love my wife. I love my little puppy dog. And I love all my friends and my fans and now you know where it's been at the last three and a half years."

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