Tributes paid to Curb Your Enthusiasm star Richard Lewis

Lewis met co-star Larry David while they were still teenagers
Robert Dex @RobDexES28 February 2024
The Weekender

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Tributes have been paid to Curb Your Enthusiasm star Richard Lewis who has died aged 76.

The comedian, famous for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, was nicknamed The Prince of Pain.

He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2023 and died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham. A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in the HBO sitcom.

David told Variety Magazine: “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 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.”

Richard Lewis (left) and Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm
AP

Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine's list of the "20th Century's Most Influential Humorists."

Tributes also came from Bette Midler, Michael McKean and Paul Feig who called Lewis "one of the funniest people on the planet." Lewis told GQ his signature look came incidentally, saying his obsession with dressing in black came from watching the television Western "Have Gun - Will Travel," with a cowboy in all-black, when he was a kid. Lewis' recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm can be credited directly to his friendship with fellow comedian, producer and series star David.

Both native Brooklynites — born in the same Brooklyn hospital — they first met and became friends as rivals while attending the same summer camp at age 13. He is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.

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