Richard Lewis's shtick was both taciturn and personal.
The comedian, who died Tuesday at age 76, had stand-up specials with names like “I'm in Pain” and “I'm Exhausted,” and his 2000 memoir is titled “The Other Great Depression.” He typically dressed all in black and spoke candidly and self-deprecatingly about relationships, therapy, and addiction. He is credited with coining the phrase “from hell” (as in “hell cat” or “hell quote”) and his sets included a lot of complaining and yelling at no one in particular.
But when Lewis appeared on HBO's “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” his ire focused on his longtime friend and series star and creator, Larry David. From the show's first episode, when Lewis' version of himself yells at David's enhanced version of himself for not liking his girlfriend, the men are the bickering old married men the show deserved.
For the record:
6:19 pm February 28, 2024Richard Lewis said he would retire from stand-up, not acting, when he revealed his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2023.
In fact, even after Lewis announced in 2023 that he had Parkinson's disease and would be retiring from stand-up, he still appeared on the final season of “Curb.” Fittingly, in the third episode, “Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug,” which aired on February 18, they discussed David’s objection to Lewis making him the benefactor of his will. (HBO confirmed that he will appear in three more episodes.)
Richard Lewis, left, and Larry David in episode 3 of the final season of HBO's “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
(John Johnson/HBO)
“Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he has been like a brother to me,” David said in a statement released by HBO on Wednesday. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me cry and I will never forgive him for that.”
The Times spoke with Lewis and David ahead of the premiere of the final season of “Curb,” and the former promised that all the bickering came from a place of love.
“We have a deep mutual affection and respect for our craft,” Lewis said in the interview. “And we've always been there for each other. Some of my idiosyncratic things in my behavior that he picks up on, and he has since we were teenagers; He really remembered most of the juicy ones and put them on the show.”
Off screen, David learned to pick his battles. When they were younger, Lewis said David made fun of him for his penchant for black clothing, but “now he totally accepts it.” However, Lewis added: “No matter where we are, if I say something that he thinks he caught me saying something idiotic or inappropriate, he'll arrest me for it.”
Richard Lewis in a typical all-black suit in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
(John Johnson/HBO)
“We try to meet up all the time in real life,” Lewis said. “It's kind of a game we play. I guess we are unusual best friends.”
Lewis said the real and fictional versions of themselves “become blurred.” He returned home one day after filming “Curb” and told his wife, Joyce Lapinsky, that he wasn't sure what he had filmed, but that it involved yelling at her and throwing a toothpick at her. She replied, “Didn't you do it once? [actually] Throw a toothpick at him?
Series executive producer and frequent director Jeff Schaffer told The Times before the season premiere of “Curb,” “We had a lot of fun in the scenes with Richard because, I think, there are literally no restrictions.”
And David noted: “Since we are old friends, I can tell him whatever I want and vice versa. So there's a certain freedom that comes with that. … Whatever I tell you on the show, I would tell you in life. “I think I treat him worse in life.”
But Lewis also knew how to use this to his advantage.
“If I'm going to say something funny but also serious, I don't look him directly in the eye,” Lewis said. “Because if I do, he'll laugh.”
