New York actor and comedian Richard Lewis, known thanks to the series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
, died Tuesday night due to a heart attack.
His representative confirmed it through a statement released this Wednesday.
“Comedian and actor Richard Lewis passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles last night after suffering a heart attack,” the brief note reads.
“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time.”
Lewis was 76 years old.
Lewis, who in April 2023 announced that he had suffered from Parkinson's for two years, was one of the most beloved comedians in the United States and had developed a good part of his career alongside fellow comedian Larry David, in whose famous series Curb Your
Enthusiasm
had a key role since its pilot episode in 2000. David himself has shared a statement expressing his pain: “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life it has been like a brother to me,” the comedian wrote.
“She had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest.
But today he made me cry and I will never forgive him for that.”
Lewis's career began in the late seventies, beginning with the comedy scene in his native New York and then in Los Angeles, where he developed his profession and where he had been based for decades.
A dark type, with a sharp and honest humor, always dressed in black, he used to dwell on his thoughts and the neuroses that plagued him.
For years Lewis struggled with alcohol and drug addictions (he had been sober for 27 years), and humorously called himself
The Prince of Pain.
Then, for the rest of his career, he used that pain and his transition to sobriety to draw inspiration and generate laughter from his experiences.
He debuted in 1979, in a film called
Diary of a Young Comic
within the program
Saturday Night Life
, and from there he became episodic in series and began to have small roles in films.
It was in the late eighties and early nineties when he became popular thanks to the series
Cariño de papel
, a romantic comedy about journalists in which he starred alongside Jamie Lee Curtis for four years and almost 60 episodes.
Curtis herself has also said goodbye to him with tears on her social networks, telling how he made her laugh and how together they had overcome tough bumps, such as the death of several friends: “Also, he is the reason why I am sober today.
He helped me.
I will always be grateful to him for that graceful solo actor.”
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A post shared by Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis)
Then came movies like
The Crazy Adventures of Robin Hood, Caravan to the East, Leaving Las Vegas, Lio on Broadway
... and series like
Daddy Dearest, Hiller and Diller, Back in the Past, Till Death Do Us Part
or Seven in the Paradise.
But his main role was always in the hands of Larry David thanks to
Curb Your Enthusiasm
, with a kind of even sharper autobiographical version of himself.
In recent years his health had worsened.
In 2021, as he said last April, she began to walk “somewhat stiff” and shuffled her feet, and after consulting a neurologist she was diagnosed with Parkinson's;
He declared himself “lucky” because it had been “late in life” and for the fact that everything was controlled and progressing slowly.
He had also undergone several surgeries: one for his back, another for his hip and two for his shoulder.
“It has been a complicated time,” he said then.
“They operated on me four times, one after the other.
It has been incredible... Bad luck, but that's life,” he explained to his followers on his social networks.
“I'm focusing on writing and acting.
I have Parkinson's, but I am under medical treatment and everything is fine.
“I love my wife, my dog and all my friends and fans.”
Since 2005, Lewis was married to music entrepreneur Joyce Lapinsky, whom he had met at a Ringo Starr party in 1998. They had no children.
Richard Lewis and Larry David, in a scene from the tenth season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'.John P. Johnson (AP)
In addition to performing in stand-up comedy and comedy clubs throughout the United States, Lewis wrote two autobiographical books: 2000's
The
Other Great Depression and 2005's
Reflections From Hell: Richard Lewis' Guide. on How Not to Live
(Reflections from Hell: Richard Lewis' Guide to How Not to Live), with Carl Nicholas Titolo.
He also released a pair of complete DVD collections reviewing his four-decade career as well as his television comedy specials.
“No, I am not a very happy man.
“I am delighted to be alive, I am grateful for who he is in my life,” he told
The Washington Post
in 2020 in an interview.
“I have great friends, a fantastic wife, a dog and a great career.
But there is a part of me that will never be totally happy.
And I think that has a lot to do with my childhood.”
Although he was practically retired due to his illness, Lewis returned year after year to
Curb Your Enthusiasm
with Larry David.
The last time was these days, when the 12th and final season of the comedy series just premiered.
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