Richard Lewis (comedian)
| Richard Lewis | |
|---|---|
.PNG) Lewis in 2013 | |
| Birth name | Richard Philip Lewis |
| Born |
June 29, 1947 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Medium | Stand-up, television, film |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Genres | Black comedy, surreal humor |
| Subject(s) | Self-deprecation, neuroticism, psychotherapy, hypochondria, paranoia, depression, human sexuality, Jewish culture, pop culture, family, eating disorders |
| Influences | Buster Keaton, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor,[1] Jonathan Winters, David Brenner |
| Influenced | Kevin Richard, Artie Lange[2] Paul Rothbart[3] |
| Spouse | Joyce Lapinsky (January 2005 – present) |
| Notable works and roles |
Marty Gold in Anything but Love Himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm |
Richard Philip Lewis (born June 29, 1947) is an American comedian and actor.
Early life
Lewis was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and was raised in Englewood, New Jersey. His father worked as a caterer and his mother was an actress. Lewis is Jewish.[4][5] He later attended Ohio State University.
Career
Lewis began performing stand-up comedy in the 1970s. He worked as a copywriter for an ad agency by day, while honing his stand-up act at night. The ad agency was named Contemporary Graphics (now defunct) and was located above Lovey's pizzeria in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. Lewis gained popularity in the 1980s with numerous appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and his own television specials on HBO. He starred with Jamie Lee Curtis in the ABC sitcom Anything but Love which ran for four seasons. He co-starred with Don Rickles on the short-lived Daddy Dearest. He had a recurring role on the Showtime series Rude Awakening, as Rabbi Richard Glass on the dramatic series 7th Heaven, and appeared on the Tales from the Crypt episode "Whirlpool". Lewis has written comic articles for magazines such as Playboy, and endorsed the popular early-1990s beverage, Boku, as well as Snapple and Certs breath mints. In 2007 he made a cameo appearance as Phillip, the school counselor of Max's school, in the TV Series George Lopez. Recently he also made cameos in Everybody Hates Chris as an old man in the hospital bed next to Chris Rock and as Charlie Sheen's accountant in Two and a Half Men.
Lewis has also achieved moderate success in films, appearing as Prince John in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, as a frontier doctor in Wagons East!, as an unemployed actor in Once Upon A Crime and as himself in the film The Wrong Guys. He played the lead role of Jimmy Epstein in the dramatic film Drunks and in the 1999 comedy Game Day. He also appeared in the dramatic pictures Leaving Las Vegas, Hugo Pool and The Maze. He made his acting debut in the 1977 TV movie mockumentary Diary of a Young Comic.
On January 9, 2001, Lewis visited The Howard Stern Show to promote his book The Other Great Depression, which described his recovery from alcoholism. Lewis has been sober since August 4, 1994.
He had a frequent recurring role as a character based on himself on Larry David's critically acclaimed Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO. Lewis and David met at summer camp in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York when they were thirteen.[6]
He is #45 on Comedy Central's list of 100 Greatest Standups of All Time.[7]
"The ______ from hell"
Lewis claims to be the originator of the phrase "The ______ from hell" as in "the night from hell", "the date from hell" or "the roommate from hell". This theory is expounded in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "The Nanny from Hell." Lewis has petitioned the editors of Bartlett's to be given credit for the coinage, but the editors claim that the phrase was a common idiom prior to Lewis's use of it.[8] For example, during World War I, kilted Scottish soldiers were given the nickname "The Ladies from Hell" (translation of German "Die Damen aus der Hölle") by German troops. However, the Yale Book of Quotations does erroneously attribute the phrase to Lewis.[9][10]
Fashion style
Lewis is noted for always wearing an all-black outfit.[11]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Diary of a Young Comic | Billy Goldstein | Gary Weis | TV Movie |
| 1980 | House Calls | Dr. Leon Prometheus | Bob Claver | TV Series (1 Episode : "The Phantom of Kensington") |
| 1985 | Temporary Insanity | TV Movie | ||
| 1986 | Riptide | Andrew Fitzsimmons Carlton III | Michael Switzer | TV Series (1 Episode : "The Wedding Bell Blues") |
| 1987 | Harry | Richard Breskin | TV Series (7 Episodes) | |
| CBS Summer Playhouse | Joey | James Komack | TV Series (1 Episode : "King of the Building") | |
| 1988 | The Wrong Guys | Himself | Danny Bilson | |
| Tattingers | Longo | Allan Arkush | TV Series (1 Episode : "Death and Taxis") | |
| 1989 | That's Adequate | Pimples Lapedes | Harry Hurwitz | |
| 1989-92 | Anything But Love | Marty Gold | TV Series (56 Episodes) | |
| 1992 | Once Upon a Crime | Julian Peters | Eugene Levy | |
| The Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story | Edward Sanders | Joyce Chopra | TV Movie | |
| 1993 | Daddy Dearest | Steven Mitchell | TV Series (13 Episodes) | |
| TriBeCa | Joseph | Melanie Mayron | TV Series (1 Episode : "Stepping Back") | |
| The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | Todd Holland | TV Series (1 Episode : "Life Behind Larry") | |
| Robin Hood: Men in Tights | Prince John | Mel Brooks | ||
| 1994 | Wagons East! | Phil Taylor | Peter Markle | |
| Tales from the Crypt | Vern | Mick Garris | TV Series (1 Episode : "Whirlpool") | |
| 1995 | A.J.'s Time Travelers | Edgar Allan Poe | Mike Finney | TV Series (1 Episode : "Edgar Allan Poe") |
| Drunks | Jim | Peter Cohn | ||
| Leaving Las Vegas | Peter | Mike Figgis | ||
| 1996 | A Weekend in the Country | Bobby Stein | Martin Bergman | TV Movie |
| The Elevator | Phil Milowski | Arthur Borman Nigel Dick Rafal Zielinski |
||
| 1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Old Beggar | Ed Bell | TV Series (1 Episode : "The Golden Goose") |
| Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Richard | TV Series (1 Episode : "Undercover") | ||
| Hugo Pool | Chick Chicalini | Robert Downey, Sr. | ||
| The Maze | Markov | Joëlle Bentolila | ||
| 1997-98 | Hiller and Diller | Neil Diller | TV Series (13 Episodes) | |
| 1998 | Rude Awakening | Harve Schwartz | TV Series (6 Episodes) | |
| 1999 | Hercules | Neurosis | Eddy Houchins | TV Series (1 Episode : "Hercules and the Tiff on Olympus") |
| Game Day | Steve Adler | Steve Klein | ||
| V.I.P. | Ronald Zane | Patrick R. Norris | TV Series (1 Episode : "Big Top Val") | |
| Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm | Himself | Robert B. Weide | TV Movie | |
| 2002 | Presidio Med | Francis Weinod | Christopher Chulack | TV Series (1 Episode : "Once Upon a Family") |
| 2003 | Alias | Mitchell Yaeger | Ken Olin | TV Series (1 Episode : "A Dark Turn") |
| 2002-04 | 7th Heaven | Rabbi Richard Glass | Ken Olin | TV Series (9 Episodes) |
| 2004 | Two and a Half Men | Stan | Rob Schiller | TV Series (1 Episode : "I Can't Afford Hyenas") |
| The Dead Zone | Jack Jericho | Anthony Michael Hall | TV Series (1 Episode : "The Cold Hard Truth") | |
| 2005 | Sledge: The Untold Story | Himself | Brad Martin | |
| Las Vegas | Stan | Tim Matheson | TV Series (1 Episode : "Fake the Money and Run") | |
| George Lopez | Phillip Nickleson | Victor Gonzalez | TV Series (1 Episode : "George Finds Therapy Benny-ficial") | |
| 2006 | The Simpsons | Golem | Matthew Faughnan David Silverman |
TV Series (1 Episode : "Treehouse of Horror XVII") |
| Everybody Hates Chris | Kris | Victor Nelli, Jr. | TV Series (1 Episode : "Everybody Hates Kris") | |
| 2007 | BelzerVizion | Himself | Richard Goldstone Matthew D. Panepinto |
Short |
| 2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Sportsman Larry | Peter Leto | TV Series (1 Episode : "Closet") |
| 2009 | The Cleaner | Henry | David Barrett | TV Series (1 Episode : "Trick Candles") |
| 2010 | Funny or Die Presents | Shades | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 'Til Death | Miles Tunnicliff | Rob Schiller (2) | TV Series (3 Episodes) | |
| 2000-11 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Himself | TV Series (27 Episodes) | |
| 2011 | Lewis on Film: The Oscar Edition | Seth Morris | Short | |
| Pound Puppies | Buddy | Greg Sullivan | TV Series (1 Episode : "Rebel Without a Collar") | |
| 2012 | Vamps | Danny | Amy Heckerling | |
| 2014 | She's Funny That Way | Al Patterson | Peter Bogdanovich |
References
- ↑ Interview with Bill Zehme, Richard Lewis: Concerts from Hell: The Vintage Years, Image Entertainment, Released 2005-09-13
- ↑ Kirschling, Gregory (2008-11-07). "Artie Lange: 'F--- It, I'll Write a Book'". EW.com. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ↑ "Paul Rothbart". imdb.com.
- ↑ Firestone, Jay (2008-03-13). "Richard Lewis, comedian from heaven". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
But his sense of disconnect could just as easily be attributed to his Jewish upbringing in New Jersey.
- ↑ "JUF News : Veteran comics Susie Essman and Richard Lewis to bring the laughs to JUF’s Vanguard Nov. 5". juf.org.
- ↑ Curb Your Enthusiasm: Larry David On Richard Lewis (Paley Center, 2002). YouTube. 10 December 2008.
- ↑ "Comedy Central 100 Greatest Standups of all Time". listology.com.
- ↑ Flamm, Matthew. Between the Lines. 60 Minutes. 11-01-2002. Retrieved on December 28, 2006
- ↑ Yale Press Log: Yale Gives Richard Lewis Hell, 2006-10-11. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
- ↑ Zwicky, Arnold. Language Log: Yet Another Snowclone Omnibus, 2007-08-11. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
- ↑ Fine, Marshall. "Richard Lewis: The Metamorphosis," The New York Observer, February 25, 2007.
External links
- Official site
- Richard Lewis at the Internet Movie Database
- Richard Lewis Naked DVD Documentary
- Richard Lewis appearance at 92nd St. Y
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