Tributes are pouring in for Richard Lewis, who passed away aged 76 after suffering from a heart attack in his Los Angeles home on February 27.
The Curb Your Enthusiasm actor had retired last year after revealing his Parkinson's disease diagnosis, which he had been battling with privately since 2021.
His publicist Jeff Abraham first confirmed the news to Deadline, stating: "His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time." The pair tied the knot in 2005, and did not have children together.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred opposite the late comedian in the ABC sitcom Anything but Love – which ran from 1989 to 1992 – was among the first of his former co-stars and friends to pay tribute.
Sharing a photo on Instagram from their time starring as characters Hannah Miller and Marty Gold, she wrote: "I've just read that my friend Richard Lewis has died. I remember exactly where I was when I saw a billboard of him about a stand up special on Sunset Boulevard when we were casting the ABC pilot Anything but Love and asked the casting people to bring him in to audition to play my best friend/maybe boyfriend, Marty Gold."
"I thought he was handsome. He made me laugh, which is the one thing that a strong, capable woman, can't really do for herself," she further recalled, adding: "He got the part when I snort laughed when he mispronounced the word Bundt cake. He blew everyone else away. It was a love triangle show and they didn't pick up that pilot but they came back to me and said that the chemistry with Richard was so great and could we revamp the original pilot which is the show we ended up making for a couple years."
After detailing how his last text to her was about his hopes that she could convince ABC or Disney (its parent company) to release "another boxed set of episodes of the show," she revealed Richard is the reason she is sober.
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She shared: "He helped me. I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone," and noted: "He found love with Joyce and that, of course, besides his sobriety, is what mattered most to him."
© GettyLarry David, lead star and creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm – Richard appeared in over 40 of its 100+ episodes – said in a statement from HBO: "Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he's been like a brother to me."
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He added: "He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I'll never forgive him."
© GettyHis Curb co-star Cheryl Hines, in a statement to Entertainment Tonight, also shared: "When I was young I had the biggest crush on Richard Lewis. He was the funniest person on stage and the most handsome comedian. Then when I was cast on Curb Your Enthusiasm, I got to work with him and it was a dream come true."
"Through the years I learned who Richard really was and the gifts he gave," she continued, adding: "Yes, he was the comedian I fell in love with, but he was also one of the most loving people I know. He would take time to tell the people he loved what they meant to him – especially in recent years. In between takes on Curb, he would tell me how special I was to him and how much he loved me. To be loved by Richard Lewis. A true gift."
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