Richard Lewis
Lewis
Richard Lewis in 2018
Birth nameRichard Philip Lewis
Born (1947-06-29) June 29, 1947 (age 76)
New York City, U.S.
MediumStand-up, television, film
Years active1971–present
GenresDark comedy, surreal humor
Subject(s)Self-deprecation, neuroticism, psychotherapy, alcoholism, hypochondria, paranoia, depression, bipolar disorder, human sexuality, Jewish culture, pop culture, family, eating disorders, annoyance
Spouse
Joyce Lapinsky
​
(m. 2005)​
Notable works and rolesMarty Gold in Anything but Love
Himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm
Websitewww.richardlewisonline.com

Richard Philip Lewis (born June 29, 1947)[1] is an American actor, writer, and retired stand-up comedian. He came to prominence in the 1980s and became known for his dark, neurotic and self-deprecating humor.

As an actor he is known for co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in the sitcom Anything but Love, for playing the role of Prince John in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights and for his recurring role as a semi-fictionalized version of himself in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Early life

Lewis was born in Brooklyn and was raised in Englewood, New Jersey.[2][3] His family is Jewish, but not especially religious.[4] His father, Bill (d. 1971), was co-owner of Ambassador Caterers in nearby Teaneck, New Jersey,[5] and his mother, Blanche, was an actress in community theatre.[3][6][7] Lewis is the youngest of three siblings – his brother was older than him by 6 years, and his sister by 9.[3][8][9] Lewis's father's catering business kept his father very busy, and his siblings had both left home by the 1960s, leaving Lewis at home alone with his mother, with whom he did not get along.[8] Lewis told The Washington Post in 2014 that he suspected that his birth had been a mistake.[8]

Lewis was known for being the class clown and causing trouble in school.[4] He graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in 1965 and attended The Ohio State University where he attained a degree in marketing.[3][10]

Career

Richard Lewis in Curb Your Enthusiasm, 2024

Lewis first tried stand-up at an open-mic in Greenwich Village in 1971.[6] He began writing and regularly performing stand-up comedy in 1972, while working as a copywriter for an advertising agency by day.[11] He was discovered by comedian David Brenner, while performing in Greenwich Village. Brenner helped Lewis's career by introducing him to the comedy clubs in Los Angeles and getting Lewis his first appearance on The Tonight Show.[11] By the mid-1970s, Lewis had appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson[12] and publications such as the New York Daily News and New York Magazine were naming him one of the "new breed" or "class" of comedians, along with such names as Robert Klein, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer and Elayne Boosler.[13][14] His influences are Buster Keaton, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor.[15]

Lewis is known for dark comedy, self-deprecation and for frank discussions of his many neuroses as well as his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction.[16] He is noted for wearing all-black attire and for pacing and gesticulating wildly during his stand-up act.[16][17][18][19] In his early days he was also known for bringing taped-together sheets from a legal pad to his performances, that he would lay across the floor in front of him to remind him of joke premises and topics he wished to cover during his performance.[16]

Lewis made his screen acting debut in Diary of a Young Comic, a 90 minute film that aired on NBC in 1979 in the timeslot normally reserved for episodes of Saturday Night Live.[20] A satirical look at the Hollywood scene, Lewis stars in the film as Billy Gondola (born Gondolstein), a young Jewish comedian who leaves New York City to find fame in Los Angeles.[20][21] The film's script was co-written by Lewis and Bennett Tramer and was adapted from a story written by Gary Weis, who also served as the film's director.[20][21] The film features Bill Macy as Billy's father, Michael Lerner as his agent, and Stacy Keach as a landlord.[21] Performers George Jessel, Dom DeLuise, Nina van Pallandt and Gary Mule Deer make appearances in the film as themselves.[21]

Lewis gained much wider exposure in the 1980s and 1990s with numerous appearances on talk shows such as The Tonight Show,[12] both Late Night and the Late Show with David Letterman,[11][17] and The Howard Stern Show[18] He also produced the comedy specials I'm in Pain, which aired on Showtime in 1985,[22] followed by I'm Exhausted, I'm Doomed and Richard Lewis: The Magical Misery Tour, which all aired on HBO in 1988, 1990 and 1997 respectively.[18][23] From 1988 to 1992 he co-starred with Jamie Lee Curtis on the sitcom Anything but Love.[17] He also starred on the short-lived sitcoms Daddy Dearest with Don Rickles in 1993 and Hiller and Diller with Kevin Nealon in 1998.[17] He played Prince John in the 1993 film Robin Hood: Men in Tights,[24] and starred a struggling alcoholic and drug addict, in the 1995 drama film Drunks, a film that also featured performances from Faye Dunaway, George Martin, Parker Posey, Howard Rollins, Spalding Gray and Dianne Wiest and was based on Gary Lennon's play Blackout.[25] Lewis also appeared in the 1995 drama film Leaving Las Vegas and the 1997 romantic comedy Hugo Pool.[18][26]

Into the 2000s, Lewis had recurring roles as a B movie producer on the sitcom Rude Awakening[27] and as Rabbi Richard Glass on the family drama series 7th Heaven.[18] Lewis also had a recurring role on the sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm as Richard Lewis, a semi-autobiographical version of himself.[24] Lewis first met the show's star and creator, Larry David, at summer camp in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York when they were 12 years old – Lewis claimed that at the time they hated each other.[18] The two comedians also happened to be born three days apart in the same hospital.[3] The pair met again just over a decade later while performing stand-up in New York and became friends.[18]

Recognition

GQ magazine included Lewis on their list of "The 20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists",[28] and Lewis was ranked #45 on Comedy Central's list of "100 Greatest Standups of All Time" released in 2004.[29][30]

In 2006, The Yale Book of Quotations included an entry for the expression "the ______ from hell" (as in "the night from hell", "the date from hell". etc.,) that was attributed to Lewis.[31] Lewis also petitioned the editors of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations to include the idiom, which was also worked into the plot of Curb Your Enthusiasm during the episode "The Nanny from Hell."[32] Lewis's lawyer sent some video tapes of Lewis using the phrase to Bartlett's general editor Justin Kaplan.[32] Bartlett's declined, stating that the expression had predated Lewis's first taped broadcast.[32] In response, Lewis told Entertainment Weekly that he traces popular usage of the line back to his early days on David Letterman's show.[32]

Personal life

Lewis met Joyce Lapinsky in 1998 at a Ringo Starr album release party, while Lapinsky was working in music publishing.[16][33] The pair were engaged in 2004 and married the following year.[33]

Discussions of Lewis's battles with anxiety and depression, and his multiple therapy sessions, have been a fixture of his comedy.[17] He has also stated in interviews that he suffers from an eating disorder due to body dysmorphia.[18][17]

Lewis has been open about his recovery from alcohol and drug abuse, having been a user of both cocaine and crystal meth.[18] His addictions worsened into the 1990s, prompting Lewis to stop performing stand-up from 1991 to 1994.[17] In a 1995 interview with the Santa Maria Times, Lewis discussed how John Candy's death in 1994 caused him to reflect upon his own life and career.[34] The two starred together in Candy's last film, the Western-themed comedy film Wagons East.[34] In later interviews, Lewis stated that he got sober in 1994 after winding up in a hospital emergency room due to a cocaine overdose.[7][17]

Lewis published his memoir in 2000, titled The Other Great Depression.[35] The book was reissued in 2008 with an added afterword where Lewis reflected further on his continued struggles with addiction.[7] In 2015 he followed this up with the book Reflections From Hell: Richard Lewis' Guide on How Not to Live, which contains Lewis's commentary and observations in the form of one-liners and other comedic premises, interspersed with images created by artist Carl Nicholas Titolo.[35]

Health

Lewis has struggled with health issues resulting in multiple surgeries. In 2016 he shattered his right hand after falling from his roof, in 2019 he had back surgery related to acute back pain, and in early 2020 he shattered his shoulder, resulting in yet more surgery.[9][33] In 2020 it was revealed that Lewis had endured great pain during the shooting of Curb Your Enthusiasm[33] and in 2021 he announced that he would only be returning for one episode of the 11th season.[24] Lewis is set to make a full return in the show's 12th and final season.[36]

In April 2023, Lewis announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease two years earlier. He said he would no longer perform stand-up comedy and was instead "focused on writing and acting".[2]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1988 The Wrong Guys Himself
1989 That's Adequate Pimples Lapedes
1992 Once Upon a Crime Julian Peters
1993 Robin Hood: Men in Tights Prince John
1994 Wagons East Phil Taylor
1995 Drunks Jim
Leaving Las Vegas Peter
1996 The Elevator Phil Milowski
1997 Hugo Pool Chick Chicalini
The Maze Markov
1999 Game Day Steve Adler
2005 Sledge: The Untold Story Himself Mockumentary
2012 Vamps Danny Horowitz
2014 She's Funny That Way Al Finkelstein
2017 Sandy Wexler Testimonial
2018 The Great Buster: A Celebration Himself Documentary

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1974–1992 The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Himself – Guest 22 episodes
1977 Diary of a Young Comic Billy Goldstein Television movie
1980 House Calls Dr. Leon Prometheus Episode: "The Phantom of Kensington"
1982–1993 Late Night with David Letterman Himself – Guest 44 episodes
1985 Temporary Insanity Performer Television movie
1986 Riptide Andrew Fitzsimmons Carlton III Episode: "The Wedding Bell Blues"
1987 Harry Richard Breskin 7 episodes
CBS Summer Playhouse Joey Episode: "King of the Building"
1988 Tattingers Longo Episode : "Death and Taxis"
1989–1992 Anything But Love Marty Gold 56 episodes
1992 The Danger of Love Edward Sanders Television movie
1993 Daddy Dearest Steven Mitchell 13 episodes
TriBeCa Joseph Episode: "Stepping Back"
The Larry Sanders Show Himself Episode: "Life Behind Larry"
1993–2008 Late Show with David Letterman Himself – Guest 9 episodes
1994 Tales from the Crypt Vern Episode: "Whirlpool"
1995–2008 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself – Guest 12 episodes
1995 A.J.'s Time Travelers Edgar Allan Poe Episode: "Edgar Allan Poe"
1996 A Weekend in the Country Bobby Stein Television movie
Nichols and May: Take Two Himself Documentary Special, PBS
1996–2015 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Himself 16 episodes
1997 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Old Beggar (voice) Episode: "The Golden Goose"
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist Richard (voice) Episode: "Undercover"
1997–98 Hiller and Diller Neil Diller 13 episodes
1998 Rude Awakening Harve Schwartz 6 episodes
1999 Hercules Neurosis (voice) Episode: "Hercules and the Tiff on Olympus"
V.I.P. Ronald Zane Episode: "Big Top Val"
Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm Himself Television movie - Pilot
2000–present Curb Your Enthusiasm Himself 40 episodes
2002 Presidio Med Francis Weinod Episode: "Once Upon a Family"
2002–2004 7th Heaven Rabbi Richard Glass 9 episodes
2003 Alias Mitchell Yaeger Episode: "A Dark Turn"
2004 Two and a Half Men Stan Episode: "I Can't Afford Hyenas"
The Dead Zone Jack Jericho Episode: "The Cold Hard Truth"
2005 Las Vegas Stan Episode: "Fake the Money and Run"
George Lopez Phillip Nickleson Episode: "George Finds Therapy Benny-ficial"
2006 The Simpsons Golem (voice) Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XVII"
Everybody Hates Chris Kris Episode: "Everybody Hates Kris"
2007 Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project Himself Documentary, PBS
2008 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Sportsman Larry (voice) Episode: "Closet"
2009 The Cleaner Henry Episode: "Trick Candles"
2010 Funny or Die Presents Shades (voice) Episode: #1.10
'Til Death Miles Tunnicliff 3 episodes
2011 Lewis on Film: The Oscar Edition Performer Short
Pound Puppies Buddy (voice) Episode: "Rebel Without a Collar"
2013 Mel Brooks: Make Some Noise Himself Documentary Special, PBS
2015 Blunt Talk Dr. Weiss 6 episodes
2016 Code Black Stewart Gough Episode: "Hero Complex"
2018 BoJack Horseman Ziggy Abler (voice) Episode: "Head in the Clouds"

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1989 CableACE Award Writing a Comedy Special The I'm Exhausted Concert Nominated [37]
1991 Viewers for Quality Television Best Actor - Quality Comedy Series Anything but Love Nominated
2006 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series Curb Your Enthusiasm Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Born This Day". New York Daily News. p. 57. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Richard Lewis, June 29, 1947
  2. ^ a b Gross, Jenny (April 25, 2023). "Richard Lewis, Diagnosed With Parkinson's, Will Retire From Stand-Up Comedy". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Richard Lewis: All Grown Up". New Jersey Monthly. October 20, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Sher, Cindy (October 4, 2012). "Veteran comics Susie Essman and Richard Lewis to bring the laughs to JUF's Vanguard Nov. 5". Jewish United Fund. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "Safe at Home". New Jersey Monthly. November 15, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Logan, John (November 30, 1995). "Richard Lewis full of angst - over his career". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E1. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. His childhood was lonely, with his mother, Blanche, in "her own world" and his father, Bill, off "turning a gymnasium into a winter wonderland for a wedding," Lewis was often left to amuse himself. After earning a marketing degree from Ohio State, he returned to New Jersey, spent five years working two, sometimes three jobs as an advertising copywriter, a librarian and a sportings good clerk. Not until 1971, after his father died, did Lewis decide to takle his dream -- he showed up for open-mike night at a Greenwich Village club. He soon found himself driving 50 to 100 miles a night to work suburban comedy clubs. It was comic David Brenner, now a close friend, who really gave him his big break.
  7. ^ a b c Firestone, Jay (March 13, 2008). "Richard Lewis, comedian from heaven". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Richard Lewis on what's so funny about growing up in Jersey". The Wall Street Journal. New York City. September 2, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2022. My father was the food guy. He co-owned Ambassador Caterers in nearby Teaneck and was a big shot in the area. I rarely saw him because he was busy all the time, which was hard on me because my mother and I didn't really get along. . . I was the baby of the family, and I'm still convinced I was a mistake. My brother is six years older than me, and my sister is nine years older. She married in 1959 when I was 12 and my brother moved to Greenwich Village in the early '60s. With my dad always working and my brother and sister out of the house, my mother and I were the only ones home. We became a Neil Simon play without the jokes. The slightest things would upset her and we got on each other's nerves. . . My brother is six years older than me, and my sister is nine years older.
  9. ^ a b Reich, Howard (January 12, 2018). "At 70, comic Richard Lewis makes another comeback". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  10. ^ Comedian Richard Lewis Interview on Bloomberg Radio [Transcript] (Radio broadcast). Bloomberg Radio. January 31, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via ProQuest. And I have a degree in marketing from The Ohio State University, and I read the copy, thought the ad was great.
  11. ^ a b c Fine, Marshall (January 9, 1985). "Comic's dark humor finally in limelight". Star-Gazette. Elmira, New York. Gannett News Service. p. 10A. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Welcome to the world of Richard Lewis, one of the most blackly funny comedians working today . . . But the light is shining on his dark humor, thanks to his old friend David Letterman. Since Late Night with David Letterman went on the air almost three years ago, he had made more appearances on the show than any other guest. "It turned my whole career around," says Lewis, 37, and Englewood, N.J., native. "I'd been writing and performing since 1972 . . . But until Letterman gave me a forum every month, I never had an audience." . . . He began as an advertising copywriter, writing jokes on the side, then began doing standup routines in Greenwich Village, where he was discovered by comedian David Brenner. He helped him make the move to comedy clubs in Los Angeles like the Improvisation and, eventually, to his first appearance on the "Tonight" show.
  12. ^ a b Lewis, Richard (December 23, 2005). "Richard Lewis remembers Johnny Carson". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  13. ^ Mason, Bryant (August 24, 1975). "The Comedians Who Have to Be Funny". New York Daily News. p. 5. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. For the new breed of comics, of whom [Robert] Klein, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Richard Lewis and Larry Ragland, and Ed Bluestone are examples, the success or failure of a comic is largely determined by his ability to write material.
  14. ^ Jacobson, Mark (March 22, 1976). "Funny Girl: New, Hot, Hip". New York. Vol. 9, no. 12. p. 32. Retrieved March 23, 2022 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Richard Lewis: Concerts from Hell: The Vintage Years: Interview with Bill Zehme (DVD). Image Entertainment. 2005.
  16. ^ a b c d Fine, Marshall (February 26, 2007). "Richard Lewis: The Metamorphosis". The New York Observer. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h Brownfield, Paul (February 8, 2001). "Still All Knotted Up, With a Twist". Los Angeles Times. p. 6. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Laurie Stone, writing about comedian Richard Lewis in the Village Voice in 1989, called his act "secular davening, where self- disclosure substitutes for prayer." At the time, Lewis was 42 and almost breathtaking (or painstaking) to watch, with his self-doubt and self-loathing and the relatives and the women and the therapists who had made him this way. His gestures were trademark--the hand pressed to the forehead, for instance--as trademark as the loose- fitting black clothes and the Converse sneakers. . . For those who have never seen him on stage or on one of his many appearances on "Late Night With David Letterman," Lewis is best- known for "Anything but Love," the sitcom co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis that ran on ABC from 1989 to 1992 (Lewis, by the way, says that his drinking never spilled over into his work). There was the 1996 independent film "Drunks," for which he received good notices, and stabs at sitcoms that failed (1990's "Daddy Dearest," with Don Rickles, and 1997's "Hiller and Diller," with Kevin Nealon). But stand-up, which he began in 1971, was where he made his mark. The steady build of Lewis' alcoholism caused him to quit stand- up between 1991 and 1994, he says. In '94, he checked himself into Hazelton, the famed drug and alcohol treatment center in Minnesota, but Lewis says he left after a day. His therapist termed his condition a kind of impotency--pain buried in booze, drugs and the hunt for orgasms. Sort of like Elvis, only without the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Lewis eventually found his rock bottom with a cocaine binge, he says.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heller, Karen (March 2, 2020). "Richard Lewis is not as miserable as he appears. But he's still miserable". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  19. ^ Diamond, Jason (October 20, 2021). "Richard Lewis Is Still the Man in Black". GQ. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c O'Connor, John J. (February 3, 1979). "'Comic' very funny". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. New York Times Service. p. 20. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. "Diary of a Young Comic," tonight's replacement on NBC for "Saturday Night Live" at 11:30, is a struggling film about a struggling young comedian. Perhaps in a clever attempt to reflect its subject, it is childish, pointless, wildly uneven and, not infrequently, devastatingly funny. The subject, played with zany dedication by stand-up comedians Richard Lewis, is Billy Gondola (born Gondolstein), who is desperately boring audiences in a New York club. Billy decides to go do Los Angeles, which has already lured away such luminaries as Neil Simon and Orange Julius.
  21. ^ a b c d Rosenberg, Howard (February 3, 1979). "'Comic' Adds Laughs 'Co-Ed' Adds Little". Part II NAME. Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Maybe it's the full moon. Whatever reason, Saturday nights are when NBC lets the loonies out of their straitjackets and padded cells. Nowhere else on TV can one regularly encounter the wonderfully warped brand of comedy that NBC allows for the 90 minutes beginning at 11:30pm. Almost always the showcase is "Saturday Night Live." but occasionally the network sneaks a surprise such as tonight's "Diary of a Young Comic." . . . What "Diary of a Young Comic" is, in fact, is a sloppy amorphous and undisciplined story that follows a callow stand-up comedian, Billy Gondola (Richard Lewis), from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and through his trials as a struggling performer. . .it tells the heartaches of Billy (who has shortened his name from Gondolstein) while lampooning the excesses of the city and industry that have him in their grasp. . . We get a sample of [Richard Lewis's] monologues and we also see Bill Macy as his father, Michael Lerner as his flimflam agent, Stacy Keach as a landlord and George Jessel, Dom DeLuise, Gary Muledeer and Nina Van Pallandt as themselves.
  22. ^ Dawidziak, Mark (October 16, 1985). "8:00 p.m. Richard Lewis: I'm In Pain". Mark's Best Bets. The Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio, United States. p. C8. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. The frenzied, neurotic stand-up comedian is featured in a wild hour-long special filmed at the Improv club in Los Angeles. Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and others are interviewed in the "witness" style borrowed from Reds. Showtime.
  23. ^ Chapman, Francesca (July 6, 1990). "Lewis Special Has Too Many Friends". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 59. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Comedian Richard Lewis stars in 'I'm Doomed,' an HBO special Saturday.
  24. ^ a b c Shafer, Ellise (January 25, 2021). "Richard Lewis Will Not Appear in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Season 11". Variety. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  25. ^ Rickey, Carrie (May 2, 1997). "Alcoholics on the wagon gather to do some soul-baring". Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 10. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. The characters: Jim (Richard Lewis), a tightly coiled recovering alcoholic and drug addict; Marty (George Martin), the meeting's haggard chairman; Rachel (Diane Wiest), a sleep-deprived doctor shaking the twin monkeys of Percodan and Scotch off her back; Joseph (Howard Rollins), whose driving while intoxicated cost him his marriage and much more; Debbie (Parker Posey), a recovering party girl now "addicted" to the NFL; and Becky (Faye Dunaway), a society dame with the same fears of backsliding, insecurities and temptations of the rest of the crew. . . Lewis, who resembles a debauched Al Pacino (if that's not redundant), is impressive in a dramatic turn. Likewise Wiest, Rollins and Posey, and likewise Spalding Gray, as a souse who mistakes the A.A. meeting for his weekly choir practice and stays because he prefers these stories to his regular group's songs.
  26. ^ Leonard, John (September 29, 1997). "Running Jokes". New York. Vol. 30, no. 37. p. 62. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Google Books.
  27. ^ Huff, Richard (August 8, 1998). "Breaching the comfort level". The San Francisco Examiner. New York Daily News. p. C1. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. In it, [Sherilyn Fenn] plays Billie Frank. . . Now working for a B-movie producer (Richard Lewis).
  28. ^ Sanello, Frank (June 20, 1990). "Comedian turns his 'problems' into laughter". The Capital Times. Madison, Wisconsin. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 5D. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. GQ magazine put him on its list of the 20th century's most influential humorists, along with Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker.
  29. ^ "Dishing Dirt". The Orlando Sentinel. April 11, 2004. p. 3. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. A panel of stage veterans will dish dirt, talk trash and heap praise upon their best and brightest as they count down Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. Richard Lewis, Dom Irrera, Judy Gold, Mario Joyner, Richard Jeni and Phyllis Diller are amongh those to provide commentary during the five hour long clipfests that begin Monday and air through the week.
  30. ^ "Comedy Central top 100 comedians". IMDb. October 28, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  31. ^ "Yale Gives Richard Lewis Hell". Yale University Press. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  32. ^ a b c d Flamm, Matthew (November 1, 2002). "Between the Lines". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  33. ^ a b c d Reich, Howard (March 3, 2020). "Richard Lewis looks in pain during 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' As it turns out, he is". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  34. ^ a b Beck, Marilyn (August 9, 1995). "Comedian Richard Lewis returns to the mic, screen". Santa Maria Times. p. C3. Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. In a rare revelatory moment, comedian Richard Lewis takes a break from his usual hyperkinetic litany of humorous retorts to reflect on the loss of John Candy. "I lost a best friend and that was a toughie," says Lewis, who co-starred in "Wagons East," the film Candy had almost finished shooting at the time of this death from a heart attack in 1994. . . The comedian, who recently turned 48, adds that his friend's untimely demise prompted him to re-evaluate his own life and career.
  35. ^ a b Reich, Howard (May 7, 2015). "'Reflections From Hell': Richard Lewis on how not to live". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  36. ^ Evans, Greg (2022-11-28). "Richard Lewis Confirms Return To Larry David's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' For Season 12". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  37. ^ "Richard Lewis: Awards". IMDb. Retrieved April 23, 2022.

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