Richard Lewis | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lewis in 2015 | |
| Born | Richard Philip Lewis (1947-06-29)June 29, 1947 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 27, 2024(2024-02-27) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Temple of Aaron Cemetery,Roseville, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Notable work | Anything but Love Curb Your Enthusiasm Robin Hood: Men in Tights |
| Spouse | |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 1971–2024 |
| Medium | Stand-up, television, film |
| Genres | Dark comedy,surreal humor |
| Subjects | Self-deprecation,neuroticism,psychotherapy, alcoholism,hypochondria,paranoia, depression,bipolar disorder,human sexuality,Jewish culture,pop culture, family,eating disorders,annoyance |
| Website | richardlewisonline |
Richard Philip Lewis (June 29, 1947 – February 27, 2024) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Lewis came to prominence in the 1980s and became known for hisdark,neurotic, andself-deprecating humor. As an actor, he was known for starring in theABC sitcomAnything but Love from 1989 to 1992, and for playing the role ofPrince John in the 1993 filmRobin Hood: Men in Tights. Lewis also had a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself in theHBO comedy seriesCurb Your Enthusiasm from 2000 to 2024.
Lewis was born on June 29, 1947,[1] inBrooklyn, New York City. He was raised inEnglewood, New Jersey.[2][3] He was born into aJewish family, but was not especially religious.[4] His father, Bill (d. 1971), was co-owner of Ambassador Caterers in nearbyTeaneck, New Jersey,[5] and his mother, Blanche, was an actress incommunity theatre.[3][6][7] Lewis was the youngest of three siblings. His sister was older by 9 years, and his brother by 6.[3][8][9] His father's catering business kept him very busy, and his siblings had both left home by the 1960s, leaving Lewis at home alone with his mother, with whom there was friction.[8] Lewis toldThe Washington Post in 2014 that he suspected that his birth had been a mistake.[8]
Lewis was known for being the class clown and causing trouble in school.[4] He graduated fromDwight Morrow High School in 1965 and attendedOhio State University where he attained aBachelor of Science in Business Administration in Marketing four years later in 1969.[3][10] He was the recipient of theFisher College of Business Alumni Achievement Award in November 2023.[11][12]
Lewis first tried stand-up at an open mic inGreenwich Village in 1971.[6] He began writing and regularly performing stand-up comedy in 1972, while working as acopywriter for an advertising agency by day.[13] He was discovered by comedianDavid Brenner while performing inGreenwich Village. Brenner helped Lewis's career by introducing him to the comedy clubs in Los Angeles and getting Lewis his first appearance onThe Tonight Show.[13] By the mid-1970s, Lewis had appeared onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson[14] and publications, such as theNew York Daily News andNew York magazine, were naming him one of the "new breed" or "class" of comedians; this list containing names such asRobert Klein,Lily Tomlin,Richard Pryor,George Carlin,Andy Kaufman,Richard Belzer, andElayne Boosler.[15][16] His influences were Richard Pryor,Buster Keaton,Woody Allen, andLenny Bruce.[17]
Lewis was known fordark comedy,self-deprecation, and for frank discussions regarding his manyneuroses, as well as his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction.[18] He was noted for wearing all-black attire and for pacing andgesticulating wildly during his stand-up act.[18][19][20][21] In his early days, he was also known for bringing taped-together sheets from alegal pad to his performances; he would lay them across the floor in front of him to remind him of joke premises and topics he wished to cover during his performance.[18]
Lewis made his screen acting debut inDiary of a Young Comic, a 90-minute film that aired onNBC in 1979 in the timeslot normally reserved for episodes ofSaturday Night Live.[22] Asatirical look at theHollywood scene, Lewis stars in the film as Billy Gondola (born Gondolstein), a young Jewish comedian who leaves New York City to find fame in Los Angeles.[22][23] The film's script was co-written by Lewis and Bennett Tramer, and was adapted from a story written byGary Weis, who also served as the film's director.[22][23] The film featuresBill Macy as Billy's father,Michael Lerner as his agent, andStacy Keach as a landlord.[23] PerformersGeorge Jessel,Dom DeLuise,Nina van Pallandt, andGary Mule Deer make appearances in the film as themselves.[23]
Lewis gained much wider exposure in the 1980s and 1990s with numerous appearances on talk shows such asThe Tonight Show,[14] bothLate Night and theLate Show with David Letterman,[13][19] andThe Howard Stern Show.[20] He also produced the comedy specialI'm in Pain, which aired onShowtime in 1985,[24] followed by the specialsI'm Exhausted,I'm Doomed, andRichard Lewis: The Magical Misery Tour, all of which aired onHBO in 1988, 1990, and 1997 respectively.[20][25] From 1989 to 1992, he co-starred withJamie Lee Curtis on the sitcomAnything but Love.[19] He also starred on the short-lived sitcomsDaddy Dearest withDon Rickles in 1993, andHiller and Diller withKevin Nealon in 1998.[19] He playedPrince John in the 1993 filmRobin Hood: Men in Tights,[26] and starred as a struggling alcoholic and drug addict in the 1995 drama filmDrunks. The latter film featured performances fromFaye Dunaway,George Martin,Parker Posey,Howard Rollins,Spalding Gray, andDianne Wiest, and was based onGary Lennon's playBlackout.[27] Lewis also appeared in the 1995 drama filmLeaving Las Vegas, and the 1997 romantic comedyHugo Pool.[20][28]
Into the 2000s, Lewis had recurring roles as aB movie producer on the sitcomRude Awakening,[29] and asRabbi Richard Glass on the family drama series7th Heaven.[20] He also had a recurring role on the sitcomCurb Your Enthusiasm as a semi-autobiographical version of himself.[26] Lewis first met the show's star and creator,Larry David, atsummer camp inCornwall-on-Hudson, New York, when they were 12 years old; Lewis claimed that, at the time, they hated each other.[20] The pair met again over a decade later while performing stand-up in New York and became friends.[20]
GQ magazine included Lewis on their list of "The 20th Century's Most Influential Humorists",[30] and Lewis was rankedNo. 45 onComedy Central's list of "100 Greatest Standups of All Time" released in 2004.[31][32]
In 2006,The Yale Book of Quotations included an entry for the expression "the ______ from hell" (as in "the night from hell", "the date from hell". etc.,) that was attributed to Lewis.[33] Lewis also petitioned the editors ofBartlett's Familiar Quotations to include the idiom, which was also worked into the plot ofCurb Your Enthusiasm during the episode "The Nanny from Hell".[34] His lawyer sent some video tapes toBartlett's general editorJustin Kaplan showing Lewis using the phrase.[34]Bartlett's declined, stating that the expression had predated Lewis's first taped broadcast.[34] In response, Lewis toldEntertainment Weekly that he traces popular usage of the line back to his early days on David Letterman's show.[34]
Lewis met Joyce Lapinsky in 1998 at aRingo Starr album release party, while Lapinsky was working in music publishing.[18][35] The pair became engaged in 2004 and married the following year.[35]
Lewis was open about his recovery from alcohol and drug abuse, having been a user of bothcocaine andcrystal meth.[20] His addictions worsened into the 1990s, prompting Lewis to stop performing stand-up from 1991 to 1994.[19] In a 1995 interview with theSanta Maria Times, Lewis discussed howJohn Candy's death the year prior had caused him to reflect upon his own life and career.[36] The two starred together in Candy's last film, theWestern-themed comedy filmWagons East.[36] In later interviews, Lewis stated that he got sober in 1994 after winding up in a hospitalemergency room due to acocaine overdose.[7][19]
Lewis published his memoir in 2000, titledThe Other Great Depression.[37] The book was reissued in 2008 with an addedafterword where Lewis reflected further on his continued struggles with addiction.[7] In 2015, he released the bookReflections from Hell: Richard Lewis' Guide on How Not to Live; it contains his commentary and observations in the form ofone-liners and other comedic premises, interspersed with images created by artist Carl Nicholas Titolo.[37]
Discussions of Lewis's battles with anxiety and depression, and his multiple therapy sessions, were a fixture of his comedy.[19] He also stated in interviews that he suffered from aneating disorder due tobody dysmorphia.[20][19] Lewis struggled with health problems resulting in multiple surgeries. In 2016, he shattered his right hand after falling from his roof; in 2019, he had back surgery related to acute back pain; and in early 2020, he shattered his shoulder, resulting in another surgery.[9][35] In the latter year, it was revealed that Lewis had battled multiple health problems and was in great pain during the shooting ofCurb Your Enthusiasm.[35] He announced that he would be appearing in only one episode of Season 11.[26] Lewis returned inSeason 12, the series' final season,[38] most episodes of which premiered after his death.
In April 2023, Lewis announced he had been diagnosed withParkinson's disease two years earlier. He said he would no longer perform stand-up comedy and was instead "focused on writing and acting".[2]
Lewis died of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles on February 27, 2024, at the age of 76.[39][40][41] Friends and colleagues, includingCurb Your Enthusiasm co-starCheryl Hines and the show's creator,Larry David, made statements regarding Lewis' death and paid homage to Lewis.[42][43] He is buried at the Temple of Aaron Cemetery inRoseville, Minnesota.[44]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Wrong Guys[45] | Richard |
| 1989 | That's Adequate[46] | Pimples Lapedes |
| 1992 | Once Upon a Crime[46] | Julian Peters |
| 1993 | Robin Hood: Men in Tights[46] | Prince John |
| 1994 | Wagons East[46] | Phil Taylor |
| 1995 | Drunks[20] | Jim |
| Leaving Las Vegas[20] | Peter | |
| 1996 | The Elevator[46] | Phil Milowski |
| 1997 | Hugo Pool[46] | Chick Chicalini |
| The Maze[46] | Markov | |
| 1999 | Game Day[45] | Steve Adler |
| 2005 | Sledge: The Untold Story[47] | Himself |
| 2012 | Vamps[45] | Danny |
| 2014 | She's Funny That Way[45] | Al Finkelstein |
| 2017 | Sandy Wexler[48] | Testimonial |
| 2018 | The Great Buster: A Celebration[49] | Himself |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974–1992 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Himself – Guest | 22 episodes[50] |
| 1979 | Diary of a Young Comic | Billy Goldstein | Television movie[46] |
| 1980 | House Calls | Dr. Leon Prometheus | Episode: "The Phantom of Kensington"[46] |
| 1982–1993 | Late Night with David Letterman | Himself – Guest | 48 episodes[20] |
| 1985 | Temporary Insanity | Performer | Television movie |
| 1986 | Riptide | Andrew Fitzsimmons Carlton III | Episode: "The Wedding Bell Blues" |
| 1987 | Harry | Richard Breskin | 7 episodes[46] |
| CBS Summer Playhouse | Joey | Episode: "King of the Building"[51] | |
| 1988 | Tattingers | Longo | Episode : "Death and Taxis" |
| 1989–1992 | Anything but Love | Marty Gold | 56 episodes[46] |
| 1992 | The Danger of Love | Edward Sanders | Television movie[46] |
| 1993 | Daddy Dearest | Steven Mitchell | 13 episodes[41] |
| TriBeCa | Joseph | Episode: "Stepping Back" | |
| The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | Episode: "Life Behind Larry"[46] | |
| 1993–2008 | Late Show with David Letterman | Himself – Guest | 9 episodes[50] |
| 1994 | Tales from the Crypt | Vern | Episode: "Whirlpool"[46] |
| 1995–2008 | Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Himself – Guest | 12 episodes[50] |
| 1995 | A.J.'s Time Travelers | Edgar Allan Poe | Episode: "Edgar Allan Poe" |
| 1996 | A Weekend in the Country | Bobby Stein | Television movie[46] |
| Nichols and May: Take Two | Himself | Documentary Special,PBS[46] | |
| 1996–2015 | The Daily Show | Himself | 16 episodes[46] |
| 1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Old Beggar (voice) | Episode: "The Golden Goose"[46] |
| Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Richard (voice) | Episode: "Undercover" | |
| 1997–1998 | Hiller and Diller | Neil Diller | 13 episodes[46] |
| 1998 | Rude Awakening | Harve Schwartz | 6 episodes[46] |
| 1999 | Hercules | Neurosis (voice) | Episode: "Hercules and the Tiff on Olympus"[52] |
| V.I.P. | Ronald Zane | Episode: "Big Top Val" | |
| Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm | Himself | Television movie – Pilot[46] | |
| 2000–2024 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Himself | 45 episodes[46] |
| 2002 | Presidio Med | Francis Weinod | Episode: "Once Upon a Family"[46] |
| 2002–2004 | 7th Heaven | Rabbi Richard Glass | 9 episodes[46] |
| 2003 | Alias | Mitchell Yaeger | Episode: "A Dark Turn"[46] |
| 2004 | Two and a Half Men | Stan | Episode: "I Can't Afford Hyenas"[46] |
| The Dead Zone | Jack Jericho | Episode: "The Cold Hard Truth"[46] | |
| 2005 | Las Vegas | Stan | Episode: "Fake the Money and Run"[46] |
| George Lopez | Phillip Nickleson | Episode: "George Finds Therapy Benny-ficial"[46] | |
| 2006 | The Simpsons | Golem (voice) | Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XVII"[46] |
| Everybody Hates Chris | Kris | Episode: "Everybody Hates Kris"[46] | |
| 2007 | Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project | Himself | Documentary,PBS[46] |
| 2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Sportsman Larry (voice) | Episode: "Closet" |
| 2009 | The Cleaner | Henry | Episode: "Trick Candles"[46] |
| 2009–2010 | 'Til Death | Miles Tunnicliff | 3 episodes[46] |
| 2010 | Funny or Die Presents | Shades (voice) | Episode: #1.10 |
| 2011 | Lewis on Film: The Oscar Edition | Performer | Short |
| Pound Puppies | Buddy (voice) | Episode: "Rebel Without a Collar"[52] | |
| 2013 | Mel Brooks: Make Some Noise | Himself | Documentary Special,PBS |
| 2015 | Blunt Talk | Dr. Weiss | 6 episodes[46] |
| 2016 | Code Black | Stewart Gough | Episode: "Hero Complex"[46] |
| 2018 | BoJack Horseman | Ziggy Abler (voice) | Episode: "Head in the Clouds" |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | CableACE Award | Writing a Comedy Special | The I'm Exhausted Concert | Nominated | [53] |
| 1991 | Viewers for Quality Television | Best Actor – Quality Comedy Series | Anything but Love | Nominated | [54] |
| 2006 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Nominated | [55] |
Richard Lewis, June 29, 1947
His childhood was lonely, with his mother, Blanche, in 'her own world' and his father, Bill, off 'turning a gymnasium into a winter wonderland for a wedding,' Lewis was often left to amuse himself. After earning a marketing degree from Ohio State, he returned to New Jersey, spent five years working two, sometimes three jobs as an advertising copywriter, a librarian and a sportings good clerk. Not until 1971, after his father died, did Lewis decide to tackle his dream – he showed up for open-mike night at a Greenwich Village club. He soon found himself driving 50 to 100 miles a night to work suburban comedy clubs. It was comic David Brenner, now a close friend, who really gave him his big break.
My father was the food guy. He co-owned Ambassador Caterers in nearby Teaneck and was a big shot in the area. I rarely saw him because he was busy all the time, which was hard on me because my mother and I didn't really get along... I was the baby of the family, and I'm still convinced I was a mistake. My brother is six years older than me, and my sister is nine years older. She married in 1959 when I was 12 and my brother moved to Greenwich Village in the early '60s. With my dad always working and my brother and sister out of the house, my mother and I were the only ones home. We became a Neil Simon play without the jokes. The slightest things would upset her and we got on each other's nerves... My brother is six years older than me, and my sister is nine years older.
And I have a degree in marketing from The Ohio State University, and I read the copy, thought the ad was great.
Welcome to the world of Richard Lewis, one of the most blackly funny comedians working today ... But the light is shining on his dark humor, thanks to his old friend David Letterman. Since Late Night with David Letterman went on the air almost three years ago, he had made more appearances on the show than any other guest. 'It turned my whole career around,' says Lewis, 37, and Englewood, N.J., native. 'I'd been writing and performing since 1972 ... But until Letterman gave me a forum every month, I never had an audience.' ... He began as an advertising copywriter, writing jokes on the side, then began doing standup routines in Greenwich Village, where he was discovered by comedian David Brenner. He helped him make the move to comedy clubs in Los Angeles like the Improvisation and, eventually, to his first appearance on theTonight show.
For the new breed of comics, of whom [Robert] Klein, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Richard Lewis and Larry Ragland, and Ed Bluestone are examples, the success or failure of a comic is largely determined by his ability to write material.
Laurie Stone, writing about comedian Richard Lewis inThe Village Voice in 1989, called his act 'secular davening, where self-disclosure substitutes for prayer.' At the time, Lewis was 42 and almost breathtaking (or painstaking) to watch, with his self-doubt and self-loathing and the relatives and the women and the therapists who had made him this way. His gestures were trademark—the hand pressed to the forehead, for instance—as trademark as the loose-fitting black clothes and the Converse sneakers... For those who have never seen him on stage or on one of his many appearances on "Late Night With David Letterman," Lewis is best- known forAnything but Love, the sitcom co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis that ran on ABC from 1989 to 1992 (Lewis, by the way, says that his drinking never spilled over into his work). There was the 1996 independent filmDrunks, for which he received good notices, and stabs at sitcoms that failed (1990'sDaddy Dearest, with Don Rickles, and 1997'sHiller and Diller, with Kevin Nealon). But stand-up, which he began in 1971, was where he made his mark. The steady build of Lewis' alcoholism caused him to quit stand-up between 1991 and 1994, he says. In '94, he checked himself into Hazelden, the famed drug and alcohol treatment center in Minnesota, but Lewis says he left after a day. His therapist termed his condition a kind of impotency—pain buried in booze, drugs and the hunt for orgasms. Sort of like Elvis, only without the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Lewis eventually found his rock bottom with a cocaine binge, he says.
Diary of a Young Comic, tonight's replacement on NBC forSaturday Night Live at 11:30, is a struggling film about a struggling young comedian. Perhaps in a clever attempt to reflect its subject, it is childish, pointless, wildly uneven and, not infrequently, devastatingly funny. The subject, played with zany dedication by stand-up comedians Richard Lewis, is Billy Gondola (born Gondolstein), who is desperately boring audiences in a New York club. Billy decides to go do Los Angeles, which has already lured away such luminaries as Neil Simon and Orange Julius.
Maybe it's the full moon. Whatever reason, Saturday nights are when NBC lets the loonies out of their straitjackets and padded cells. Nowhere else on TV can one regularly encounter the wonderfully warped brand of comedy that NBC allows for the 90 minutes beginning at 11:30pm. Almost always the showcase isSaturday Night Live, but occasionally the network sneaks a surprise such as tonight'sDiary of a Young Comic. ... WhatDiary of a Young Comic is, in fact, is a sloppy amorphous and undisciplined story that follows a callow stand-up comedian, Billy Gondola (Richard Lewis), from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and through his trials as a struggling performer ... it tells the heartaches of Billy (who has shortened his name from Gondolstein) while lampooning the excesses of the city and industry that have him in their grasp... We get a sample of [Richard Lewis's] monologues and we also see Bill Macy as his father, Michael Lerner as his flimflam agent, Stacy Keach as a landlord and George Jessel, Dom DeLuise, Gary Muledeer and Nina Van Pallandt as themselves.
The frenzied, neurotic stand-up comedian is featured in a wild hour-long special filmed at the Improv club in Los Angeles. Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and others are interviewed in the 'witness' style borrowed from Reds. Showtime.
Comedian Richard Lewis stars inI'm Doomed, an HBO special Saturday.
The characters: Jim (Richard Lewis), a tightly coiled recovering alcoholic and drug addict; Marty (George Martin), the meeting's haggard chairman; Rachel (Diane Wiest), a sleep-deprived doctor shaking the twin monkeys of Percodan and Scotch off her back; Joseph (Howard Rollins), whose driving while intoxicated cost him his marriage and much more; Debbie (Parker Posey), a recovering party girl now 'addicted' to the NFL; and Becky (Faye Dunaway), a society dame with the same fears of backsliding, insecurities and temptations of the rest of the crew... Lewis, who resembles a debauched Al Pacino (if that's not redundant), is impressive in a dramatic turn. Likewise Wiest, Rollins and Posey, and likewise Spalding Gray, as a souse who mistakes the A.A. meeting for his weekly choir practice and stays because he prefers these stories to his regular group's songs.
In it, [Sherilyn Fenn] plays Billie Frank... Now working for a B-movie producer (Richard Lewis).
GQ magazine put him on its list of the 20th century's most influential humorists, along with Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker.
A panel of stage veterans will dish dirt, talk trash and heap praise upon their best and brightest as they count down Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. Richard Lewis, Dom Irrera, Judy Gold, Mario Joyner, Richard Jeni and Phyllis Diller are amongh those to provide commentary during the five hour long clipfests that begin Monday and air through the week.
In a rare revelatory moment, comedian Richard Lewis takes a break from his usual hyperkinetic litany of humorous retorts to reflect on the loss of John Candy. 'I lost a best friend and that was a toughie,' says Lewis, who co-starred inWagons East, the film Candy had almost finished shooting at the time of this death from a heart attack in 1994... The comedian, who recently turned 48, adds that his friend's untimely demise prompted him to re-evaluate his own life and career.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |