Lewis played a fictional version of himself in the HBO comedy.
above
February 28, 2024, 4:45 p.m. ET
• 4 min reading
Richard Lewis, the comedian and actor known for his roles in the HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and the film “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” has died. He was 76.
Lewis died “peacefully” at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening after suffering a heart attack, his publicist Jeff Abraham said in a statement to ABC News.
“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and requests privacy at this time,” the statement said.
The comedian revealed last year that he was suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Lewis was best known for his dark and self-deprecating sense of humor. He began his career in comedy clubs and appeared on late-night talk shows such as “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” in the '70s and '80s.
Comedian Richard Lewis attends the premiere of “Sandy Wexler” at ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on April 6, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Jason Laveris/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Between 1989 and 1992, he starred for four seasons on the ABC sitcom Anything but Love, a romantic workplace sitcom opposite Jamie Lee Curtis. The pair played colleagues in a Chicago magazine office who struggle to keep their emotions away from the workplace.
He also played a fictionalized version of himself on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he is currently airing its 12th season.
On the big screen, Lewis most notably played Prince John in Mel Brooks' comedy classic Robin Hood: Men in Tights alongside Cary Elwes as the title character.
He also starred alongside Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue in the Oscar-winning drama “Leaving Las Vegas.”
Posted in a video on Xformerly of Twitter, Lewis announced in April 2023 that he was retiring from stand-up comedy after nearly 50 years.
In the video, he also revealed that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease about two years earlier.
Lewis recently spoke about how his Parkinson's disease had affected his outlook on life, telling Vanity Fair in an interview published earlier this month: “It was a combination of forcing myself to look back and be grateful.”
“I had such a great life. I still do that. I’m a happy man,” he told the magazine. “I came into contact with more gratitude and acceptance.”
Lewis, who was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, was honest in both his comedy and his writing about his mental health struggles and his recovery from alcohol and drug abuse, first in his memoirs the year 2000. The Other Great Depression” and then with his 2015 book “Reflections From Hell: Richard Lewis' Guide on How Not to Live”.
David, his “Curb Your Enthusiasm” co-star, said in a statement on Wednesday: “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and he has been like a brother to me for most of my life. He had that rare combination of the funniest and also the sweetest person. But today he made me cry and I will never forgive him for that.