Richard Belzer, the longtime stand-up comedian who became one of television’s most indelible sleuths as John Munch in ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ and ‘Law & Order: SVU’, is deceased. He was 78 years old.
Belzer died Sunday at his home in Bozouls, southern France, his longtime friend Bill Scheft told The Hollywood Reporter. Comedian Laraine Newman first announced his death on Twitter. Actor Henry Winkler, Belzer’s cousin, wrote “Rest in Peace Richard”.
Universal Television and NBC released a joint statement on Sunday offering their condolences at the news of Benson’s death.
“Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of watching Richard Belzer play Det. John Munch – whether on ‘Homicide’ or ‘Law & Order: SVU’ – for four decades will never forget how well he inhabited this character. -loved to make it his own,” the statement read.
“His professionalism, talent and dedication to craftsmanship made him a mainstay in the industry, but it was his humor, compassion and loving heart that made him family.”
For more than two decades and across 10 series — even including appearances on “30 Rock” and “Arrested Development” — Belzer played the wise and acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories. Belzer first played Munch in an episode of “Homicide” in 1993 and last played him in 2016’s “Law & Order: SVU.”
Belzer never auditioned for the role. After hearing him on “The Howard Stern Show,” executive producer Barry Levinson brought in the comedian to read the role.
“I would never be a detective. But if I was, that’s how I would be,” Belzer once said. “They write to all my paranoia and anti-establishment dissent and conspiracy theories. So it was really fun for me. A dream, really.
From this unlikely start, Belzer’s Munch would go on to become one of television’s longest running characters and a sunglasses-wearing presence on the small screen for more than two decades. In 2008 Belzer published the novel “I Am Not a Cop!” with Michael Ian Black. He also helped write several books on conspiracy theories, on things like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
“He made me laugh a billion times,” longtime friend and fellow stand-up artist Richard Lewis tweeted.
Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Belzer was drawn to acting, he said, during an abusive childhood during which his mother beat him and his older brother, Len. “My kitchen was the hardest room I’ve ever worked in,” Belzer told People magazine in 1993.
After being expelled from Dean Junior College in Massachusetts, Belzer embarked on a stand-up life in New York City in 1972. At Catch a Rising Star, Belzer became a regular. He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro’s 1974 film “The Groove Tube,” a television satire starring Chevy Chase, a film spun off from the Channel One comedy group of which Belzer was a part.
Before “Saturday Night Live” changed the New York comedy scene, Belzer performed with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and others on the National Lampoon Radio Hour. In 1975, he became the warm-up comic for the new “SNL”. While many cast members rose to fame quickly, Belzer’s roles were mostly smaller cameos. He later said that SNL creator Lorne Michaels reneged on his promise to cast him on the show.
NBC Chicago
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