Curb Your Enthusiasm Actor Richard Lewis Dead at 76

Actor and Comedian Richard Lewis Dies at 76

Hollywood is mourning the loss of a comedic icon.

Curb Your Enthusiasm star Richard Lewis passed away peacefully at his Los Angeles home on Feb. 27 after suffering a heart attack. He was 76.

In a Feb. 28 statement, his wife of 19 years, Joyce Lapinsky, thanked everyone for “their love, friendship and support” and asked for privacy at this time.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 29, 1947, Lewis was known for his neurotic, self-deprecating style of comedy. He made his screen acting debut in 1979’s Diary of a Young Comic, and was a staple on The Tonight Show and The Late Show With David Letterman in the ’80s and ’90s.

While he is best known for playing a fictional version of himself of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lewis also appeared in 1993’s Robin Hood: Men in Tights and even guest starred as a rabbi for two seasons on WB’s 7th Heaven.

Lewis, who confirmed in 2023 that he had been living with Parkinson’s disease, was also open about his substance abuse problems, sharing in his 2002 autobiography—titled The Other Great Depression: How I’m Overcoming, on a Daily Basis, at Least a Million Addictions and Dysfunctions and Finding a Spiritual (Sometimes) Life—that after mixing drugs and alcohol, he was rushed to the hospital in 1991, an experience that kicked off his sobriety journey.

Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images

And that’s not the only journey the comedian’s gotten candid about. In fact, Lewis recently discussed his road to success in film and TV.

“I felt that I was very fortunate to have the tenacity and the fortune to get into the world of the arts and to make a mark in it,” he told Vanity Fair in an interview published Feb. 18. “In print, that would sound egotistical. But remember where I was coming from and knowing how hard the business is generally speaking for comedians.”

Lewis added, “You have to make your own break and if you get a break, you better score or you’re out, man. And I did.”

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