Richard Lewis, a Curb fave who never hid his excitement

After watching the great comedian duel with Larry David last night, I learned that Richard Lewis, 76, had died suddenly. In a comical clip from the latest season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, two men disguised as themselves argue at a golf course. Over the show’s twelve seasons, the men have argued. 

Richard Lewis lashes out, “I’m leaving you in my will; I’m tweaking it, and you’re in it.” This starts a heart-stopping conversation that goes like this: 

David: I refuse to accept if bequeathed!

Lewis: So, I’m leaving this behind.

David: Alright, I refuse to accept!

Lewis: Alright, you must concede! 

David: Keep it away from me! 

Lewis: Please don’t offend me! 

David: Not a cent of it will stay with me! 

Lewis: I’m being harmed by you! 

David: I appreciate that, but I’m not interested! 

Lewis: I’m still going to give it to you, buddy! 

David: Holy cow, screw you! 

Lewis’s schtick was sharper and more practiced than David’s, but always more subdued. He wore black almost exclusively on and off TV. He sometimes overdressed in black at Curb; David questioned, “Are you fighting for the title of the most pretentious man in the world?” concerning a military-looking suit. Thus, we go. Watching these guys die for each other never gets old. 

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Richard Lewis’s big eyes sparkled with mischievous light while he was having fun. Stand-up comedy was his main career, earning him the nickname “the Prince of Pain” for his travels and live performances. He’s made an impressive 48 Late Night with David Letterman appearances. Lewis “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy,” said Mel Brooks, who directed Prince John in Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993. He insists that the Sheriff of Rottingham give bad news “in a good way,” and Lewis plays it with a fiery, bulging-eyed enthusiasm (then chastises him for making light of a terrible situation). 

In the late 1980s sitcom Anything But Love, Lewis played egotistical journalist Marty Gold and added hilarity. Jamie Lee Curtis also appeared. In the first scene, he desperately tries to “forget the fact that five million pounds of metal is slightly heavier than air” as he boards the plane. Hannah Miller (Curtis), Lewis’s best conversationalist, quickly flirts with him. 

Richard Lewis was clearly enjoying the banter and fun 30 years before his last Curb performance, and he never winked. He will be missed.