Homicide: Life On The Street and Law & Order: SVU star Richard Belzer has died aged 78. The veteran stand-up comedian died on Sunday at his home in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, southern France, his friend Bill Scheft said.
Scheft, a writer who had been working on a documentary about Belzer, said there was no known cause of death but Belzer had been dealing with circulatory and respiratory issues. He is best known for playing John Munch, a wise-cracking, acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories, across ten series - even including appearances on 30 Rock and Arrested Development.
Belzer first played Munch on a 1993 episode of Homicide and last played him in 2016 on Law & Order: SVU. He never auditioned for the role - after hearing him on The Howard Stern Show, executive producer Barry Levinson brought the comedian in to read for the part.
He once said: "I would never be a detective. But if I were, that’s how I’d be. They write to all my paranoia and anti-establishment dissidence and conspiracy theories. So it’s been a lot of fun for me. A dream, really."
Belzer’s Munch became 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 to write several books on conspiracy theories. Subjects included the assassination of former US president John F Kennedy and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
Actor Henry Winkler, Belzer’s cousin, tweeted: “Rest in peace Richard". His longtime friend and fellow stand-up comic Richard Lewis said on Twitter: "He made me laugh a billion times."
Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Belzer was drawn to comedy, he said, during an abusive childhood in which his mother would beat him and his older brother Len. He would do impressions of his childhood idol Jerry Lewis.
After being expelled from college in Massachusetts, Belzer embarked on a life of stand-up in New York in 1972. He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro’s 1974 film The Groove Tube, a TV satire co-starring Chevy Chase.
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Before Saturday Night Live (SNL) 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 often played a stand-up comic in film, including in 1980s’ Fame and 1983’s Scarface. He had small roles, including in Night Shift in 1982 and Fletch Lives in 1989 until Munch changed his career.
When Homicide: Life On The Street ended production in early 1999, he called creator Dick Wolf to see if the character could join another NBC series. Law & Order: SVU premiered that autumn, with Belzer starring alongside Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni. The storyline saw Munch transferring from Baltimore to New York.
Wolf said in a statement: “Richard Belzer’s Detective John Munch is one of television’s iconic characters. I first worked with Richard on the Law & Order/Homicide crossover and loved the character so much.
"I wanted to make him one of the original characters on SVU. The rest is history. Richard brought humour and joy into all our lives, was the consummate professional and we will all miss him very much."
Belzer is survived by his third wife, the actress Harlee McBride, whom he married in 1985. For the past 20 years, they lived mostly in France, in homes he bought partially from the proceeds of a lawsuit with Hulk Hogan.
