The entertainment world is mourning the loss of Richard Lewis, after the prolific actor and comedian passed away due to a heart attack on Tuesday, February 27th. Lewis, who passed away at the age of 76, has been most recently known amongst TV fans for his stint on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which he played a semi-fictionalized version of himself since the show’s inception in 2000. Shortly after Lewis’ passing, Curb Your Enthusiasm star and producer Larry David released a statement reacting to the death of his co-star and friend. David, who first met Lewis at summer camp as children, revealed that he is “like a brother” to him.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“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 wrote in a statement Wednesday, shared by HBO. “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 sitcomย 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.”
Our thoughts are with Lewis’ family, friends, and fans at this time.
