Larry David, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more pay tribute to Richard Lewis
David called the late comedian the "funniest person and also the sweetest" and Curtis credited him as "the reason I am sober" on social media this week
Aux News Richard Lewis
Beloved actor and comedian Richard Lewis died of a heart attack in his home in Los Angeles this week, leaving a giant hole in the world of comedy in general as well as Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which he starred as Larry David’s best friend for two decades. David, who was as close with Lewis off-screen as he was on, wrote the following tribute to his old friend yesterday (via Variety):
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.
In 2021, Lewis announced that he would not be returning to Curb to take some time to recover from multiple surgeries, but he later changed his tune. He stars in the series’ 12th and final season, which is currently airing on HBO.
But David is far from the only person whose life was touched by Lewis. Jamie Lee Curtis, who co-starred with the late comedian on 1989 sitcom Anything But Love, also wrote three emotional tributes to Lewis on Instagram. In the first, she credits him as “the reason I am sober,” writing: “He helped me. I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone. He found love with Joyce and that, of course, besides his sobriety, is what mattered most to him. I’m weeping as I write this. Strange way of saying thank you to a sweet and funny man. Rest in laughter, Richard. My Marty, I love you, Hannah!” “Rest in the knowledge that you helped people, Richard. First of all, me,” she wrote in another.
Many, many more stars have paid tribute to Lewis’ legacy since the news broke yesterday. Fellow Curb star Cheryl Hines wrote on Instagram that he was “the funniest person on stage and the most handsome comedian,” and Mark Hamill called him “one-of-a-kind & always hilarious.” You can read some of these tributes below:
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I had no idea of the existence of that Anything But Love sitcom with Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis until learning of Lewis’ passing. I’ll have to check that out. Lewis’ and Larry David’s back-and-forth on Curb over the years was always hilarious.
It was a bit weird that avclub’s obit didn’t even mention it. It ran for four seasons. Richard Lewis seem to be everywhere in the late 80s/early 90s.
Four seasons? I never would’ve guessed. I remember it having two, only because S1 ended with one of them telling the other they loved them (or something like that), and the premiere of S2 addressing it. Had no idea there was a S3-4.EDIT: Just checked Wikipedia, and it turns out that “confession of feelings” was actually at the end of S2. I think the abridged S1 threw off my memory.
The series was a bit before my time (born in ‘87 so I was way too young to be aware of it), but as someone who’s pretty up on pop culture before my time I was surprised it was never on my radar. Never noticed it airing on syndication ever, you’d think with that cast and running for enough seasons it would get some air time on one of those obscure cable channels that airs old sitcoms all day.
I watched for a time. It was really good in that it was a slow roll of a friendship of two like minded individuals to romance and more despite them both agreeing to maintain this professional relationship at the beginning. It really helped that Jamie and Richard actually made a really fun and believable couple.
They had a weird and wonderful chemistry. I think the show was too smart to be really popular. But it wasn’t cancelled by the network but by it’s own production company who didn’t find it profitable enough.
The first two seasons were once on DVD, but I don’t think the other 2 ever were.
I remember they had to get an entirely new set of supporting castmates after a season one time. I believe they said they wanted to get some good quirky characters but I honestly think they realized that the two main leads were outshining the rest of the cast with their personalities a little too well. It kind of made me think of Moonlighting in a sitcom form, honestly.
God I was in love with Jamie Lee Curtis at the time – she was the epitome of smart and sexy for me.
At the end of the 6-episode Season One, they cleared out everyone at the magazine except Jules and had Hannah move into her own apartment (so her dad was never seen or heard from again). All-in-all I think the retooling worked, especially bringing in Ann Magnuson as the magazine editor.
Welcome home, Richard. Nice to see you again. Even nicer you get to see me.
They… actually made a cute couple.
Is there a world where Richard Lewis has Billy Crystal’s romcom career?