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The Shark Deck. Richard Belzer has passed away age seventy eight. Richard passed away Sunday at his home in southwest France. A long time friend of the actor, Ruyter Bill Scheft, said Belzer had a lot of health issues and his last words were FU mother, Effer. Many fans know Belzer from his role as John Munch on the TV show’s Homicide, with them later on Law and Order SVU.
I know I was familiar with Belzer from hearing him on The Howard Stern Show. Back in twenty sixteen, TV producer Barry Levinson recalled listening to Belzer on The Howard Stern Show and liking him for the character of John Munch. Levinson said, we were looking at some other actors and when I heard him, I said, why don’t we find out about Richard Belzer. I liked the rhythm of the way he talks, and that’s how it happened. Belzer played Munch on all seven seasons of Homicide that show ended in nineteen ninety nine.
Belzer said, when Homicide was canceled, I was in France with my wife. She said, let’s open a bottle of champagne and toast. You did this character for seven years. Then I remember that Benjamin Bratt was leaving Lawn Order, and I called my manager and said, called Dick Wolf, maybe Munch could become Briscoe’s partner. That didn’t work out, but as they developed Lawn Order SVU, John Munch was on the show.
He played the character for fourteen more seasons. The character announced his retirement from the NYPD in twenty fourteen. Belzer also showed up as John Munch on a nineteen ninety seven episode of The X Files. Belzer as a comedian and started doing gigs at Catcherizing Star in New York. He performed on the National Lampoon Radio Hour alongside Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, and Harold Remis.
When Lorne Michaels started SNL in nineteen seventy five, he tapped Richard Belzer to be the warm up comedian for the audience. In nineteen eighty nine, Belzer said it was thrilling in those days to be part of that because regardless of what anyone said, a lot of people didn’t know how that was going to be accepted. This was like giving the kids a key to the store to have those anti Estayleish people have a TV show on Network, so they asked me to do some sketches and do the warmups. I just kind of did what I did at nightclubs. I talked to the audience and did some my material.
I tried to improvise an adeleb as much as I could, and it was fascinating doing that in a television studio, not in a nightclub. Belzer hosted a show on Lifetime in nineteen eighty five called Hot Properties. His guests included Hulk Hogan and Mister T. Hulk Hogan put Belzer in a front chin locks as the Hollywood reporter and knocking Bells are unconscious. They’re re listening to the floor.
Belzer told Roy Firestone at nineteen ninety he came very close to killing me. I was told by a sports medicine expert that if I had fallen a few inches either way, I could have been crippled for life. I could have been dead. Bells Aer sued Hulk Hogan, Mister T, Vince McMahon, and what was then called the World Wrestling Federation for five million dollars. Reportedly, they settled for four hundred thousand dollars, which Belzer said he used for down payment on his house in France.
Much thanks to the Hollywood Reporter from where I cribbed a lot of that reactions on Twitter, Lorraine Newman tweeted, I’m so sad to hear of Richard Belzer’s passing. I love this guy so much. He’s one of my first friends when I got to New York to DUSNL. We used to go out to dinner every week at Sheepshead Bay for lobster. One of the funniest people ever, a master at CrowdWork, Richard Lewis wrote, old pals are disappearing.
Belzer passed away today. Love to his family and happier times. This is us. A few days before selling out town Hall with an accompanying picture. Sam Murell tweeted, I loved how genuine, funny and compassionate and performance Richard Belzer gave his detective Munch a classic New York character.
Also read that his last words were fu Motherffer A pretty badassway to go, Rip Mark Marin. Richard Belzer died. He was an original, one of the greats. Babe. I love the guy, ri ip Bill Burr a simple rip Richard Belzer.
Patton Oswalt. Ah, gosh, darn it, clean that up. Rip Richard Belzer. I just always thought he’d be around because it seemed like he always was a true original. George Wallace nineteen seventy six at Catcherizing Star, I was called on to a stage for the first time by Richard Belzer.
Farewell, love you forever, Eric Idol. I always adored him as a starving comedian out on the fringes. He would come in to my dressing room whenever I hosted SNL in the seventies and eat all the cheese and fruit plates. A very funny and dear man. Richard Belzer has passed away at age seventy eight.
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