Richard Lewis, a comedian who used his dark, morose humor to mock himself in his stand-up act before shifting to roles that included one in his own image on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died. His publicist said Lewis died peacefully at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, per the Hollywood Reporter. He was 76. Lewis had announced in April 2023 that he was afflicted with Parkinson's disease. "He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest," David, who'd known Lewis since childhood, said in a statement. "But today he made me sob, and for that I'll never forgive him."
Lewis, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey, was producing ad copy for a living when he started writing jokes for comedians, per CNN. He launched his inward-facing stand-up act in New York and Los Angeles in the 1970s alongside such comedians as Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer, and Elayne Boosler. He soon was a regular presence on late-night TV shows including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, dressed in black and pacing as he vented about his neuroses, per Deadline. He became known as "the Prince of Pain" and for adding "from hell" to topics, like "the date from hell" or "the job from hell," per the AP.
"Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session," the Los Angeles Times wrote in 2014. His battles with drug and alcohol addiction, depression and anxiety became fodder for his act and autobiography. Lewis became sober after a combination of drugs and alcohol sent him to a hospital. After the Parkinson's diagnosis, he stopped doing stand-up but remained with Curb Your Enthusiasm. His humor could be universal, as well, without losing the dark edge. "When you're in love," Lewis said, "it's the most glorious two and a half days of your life." (More obituary stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
