Richard Belzer, a veteran stand-up comic who played John Munch in “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Law & Order: SVU,” one of television’s most enduring investigators, has passed away. He was 78.
According to his lifelong friend Bill Scheft, Belzer passed away on Sunday, February 19, at his house in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, in southern France. There is no documented cause of death, however Scheft, a writer who was working on a documentary about Belzer, reported that Belzer had been having circulatory and pulmonary problems. Belzer’s cousin, actor Henry Winkler, tweeted “Rest in peace Richard.”
Laraine Newman, an original ‘SNL’ cast member who worked alongside Belzer from the mid-’70s through the ’80s, also confirmed his death.
She wrote;
I’m so sad to hear of Richard Belzer’s passing. I loved this guy so much. He was one of my first friends when I got to New York to do SNL. We used to go out to dinner every week at Sheepshead Bay for lobster. One of the funniest people ever. A master at crowd work. RIP dearest.
Belzer, a Bridgeport, Connecticut native, claimed that amid his mother’s beatings as a boy, along with his older brother Len, he was driven to comedy. He would impersonate Jerry Lewis, who was his childhood hero. According to Belzer, “my kitchen was the worst place I ever worked in,” in 1993.
Belzer began a life of stand-up in New York in 1972 after being dismissed from Dean Junior College in Massachusetts. Belzer established himself as a regular performer and emcee at Catch a Rising Star. In the TV parody “The Groove Tube,” directed by Ken Shapiro in 1974, which also starred Chevy Chase and was based on the comic ensemble Channel One, which Belzer was a member of, he made his big-screen debut.
Before “Saturday Night Live” changed the comedy scene in New York, 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 newly launched “SNL.” While many cast members quickly became famous, Belzer’s roles were mostly smaller cameos. He later said “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels reneged on a promise to work him into the show.
Belzer became one of the era’s top stand-ups. He was known especially for his biting, cynical attitude and his witty, sometime combative banter with the audience. As one of the most influential comedians of the ’70s, Belzer was a master of crowd work.
His famous police character had also existed even before ‘SVU’ came around, Munch had existed in another TV universe, namely, on the classic hit ‘Homicide,’ where he starred opposite Ned Beatty, Daniel Baldwin and other big actors for seven straight seasons.