# Richard Lewis dies at 76 (2/28/2024) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [February 28, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251 "2024-02-28T20:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/1 "2024-02-28T20:49:46Z")
> **[Richard Lewis Dies: Beloved Comic, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Actor Was 76](https://deadline.com/2024/02/richard-lewis-dead-1235841064/)** > > Richard Lewis, one of America’s most beloved and revered stand-up comics who also played a fictionalized version of himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died. He was 76. MORE TO COME… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/2 "2024-02-28T20:57:04Z")
Well damn. (Also, he was older than I thought.) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/3 "2024-02-28T21:04:59Z")
He should have been a much bigger name but his issues overwhelmed his comedy. In small doses he was great. We’re heading for an era of obituaries on 80s comedians. It will be sad. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/4 "2024-02-28T21:06:01Z")
RIP Richard Lewis. I enjoyed all of this comedy. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/5 "2024-02-28T21:08:31Z")
Being too cheap to buy HBO, I never watched “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but I did enjoy him in the show he did with Jamie Lee Curtis, _Anything But Love_. I was scared at first that the thread title was about **kaylasmom** ’s cousin, the executive director of Sacramento Music Circus. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/6 "2024-02-28T21:09:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > We’re heading for an era of obituaries on 80s comedians. It will be sad. I actually thought Richard Lewis had died last year, but I was confusing him with Richard Belzer. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/7 "2024-02-28T21:22:23Z")
I was reading this thread thinking it was Belzer til I saw your post! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/8 "2024-02-28T21:25:36Z")
Somewhere out the is a “…from hell” joke about his death that would be fitting. He claimed to invent the “\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ from hell” phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/9 "2024-02-28T21:32:27Z")
Didn’t care for him much, but my two favorite things he did was the Hyundai commercial he appeared in, and an episode of the short-lived “Code Black.” In both of those he was pretty much playing himself. Yeah, small doses. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/10 "2024-02-28T21:46:29Z")
This news is very depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/11 "2024-02-28T22:33:06Z")
Oh, so sad. On one of the more recent Curb episodes, he and Larry were yelling at each other about being in each other’s wills and being each other’s heirs. It feels very different today than the day I watched it. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/12 "2024-02-28T23:14:51Z")
Finally ran out of things to complain about. OR-- his biggest complaint ever! RIP. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/13 "2024-02-28T23:56:35Z")
Richard was the perfect foil/friend for Larry in Curb. From what I understand he fulfilled pretty much the same role in real life. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/14 "2024-02-29T01:53:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Being too cheap to buy HBO, I never watched “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but I did enjoy him in the show he did with Jamie Lee Curtis, _Anything But Love_. I very much liked that show when it was originally on but a couple of years ago, I rewatched it on a streaming service or Netflix DVDs and wasn’t as enthusiastic. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/15 "2024-02-29T01:59:34Z")
I grew up with his [Boku commercials](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDAhNu1haKQ) and they’re still the first thing that pops into my mind when I read/hear his name. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/16 "2024-02-29T02:02:14Z")
“When are you gonna die? Why don’t you just die already?” -Larry David to Richard Lewis The answer is February 27, Larry. And now he has. RIP. Richard and Larry had a very unique and special friendship. I’m sure he’s wrecked tonight. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/17 "2024-02-29T14:50:56Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > I was reading this thread thinking it was Belzer til I saw your post Who died a year ago at 78. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/18 "2024-02-29T17:16:07Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > “When are you gonna die? Why don’t you just die already?” -Larry David to Richard Lewis > > The answer is February 27, Larry. And now he has. RIP. > > Richard and Larry had a very unique and special friendship. I’m sure he’s wrecked tonight. “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 said in a statement shared on the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Instagram page. “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.” > **[Larry David pays tribute to childhood friend and co-star Richard Lewis](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/richard-lewis-dead-larry-david-pays-tribute-to-childhood-friend-other-stars-remember-comedian/)** > > "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," Larry David said. Lewis and David first met at 12 years old at summer camp. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/19 "2024-02-29T19:34:45Z")
On _Morning Joe_ today they ran some clips from an interview Scarborough did with Lewis a while back. One bit was that at some point Larry had asked Richard: “So, what are you going to die of?” Answer: “Natural causes”, whatever that means. BTW in PD circles the saying is: you don’t die _of_ Parkinson’s, you die _with_ Parkinson’s. Letterman’s YouTube channel usually puts up some old clips when one of their better known guests die. So far they’ve only put up one. Hopefully there will be more. Even Pee-Wee got two. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251/20 "2024-03-01T00:14:02Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > I was reading this thread thinking it was Belzer til I saw your post! Richard Lewis, Richard Belzer, and Phil Hartman made a pilot together. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0KJrN2AjwB0/hqdefault.jpg "The Facts (1982) CBS Special Phil Hartman, Richard Lewis & Richard Belzer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KJrN2AjwB0) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-lewis-dies-at-76-2-28-2024/998251.md?page=2)