Richard Lewis (comedian)
| Richard Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Richard Philip Lewis |
| Born | June 29, 1947 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States |
| 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 |
| Spouse | Joyce Lapinsky (January 2005 - present) |
| Notable works and roles | Marty Gold in Anything But Love Himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm"Once upon a crime" |
Richard Philip Lewis (born June 29, 1947) is an American comedian and actor.
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 (no longer exists) 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 has starred 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 Showtime series Rude Awakening and as a rabbi on the dramatic series 7th Heaven. 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 T.V Series George Lopez. Recently he also made cameos in Everybody Hates Chris as an old man in the hospital bed next to Chris Rock's 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. Billy Joel has said Lewis is the "old friend who bought a ticket to the West Coast and gives them a stand-up routine in L.A." in his song "My Life".
On January 9, 2001, Lewis visited the Howard Stern Show to promote his book 'The Other Great Depression', which described his recovery from alcoholism.
He currently has a frequent recurring role as 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.[2]
"The ______ from hell"
Lewis claims to be the originator of the phrase "The ______ from hell" as in "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.[3] However, the Yale Book of Quotations does attribute the phrase to Lewis.[4][5]
Trademarks
Lewis is noted for always wearing an all-black outfit.[6] During his routines, he commonly places his right hand on his forehead, then stretches it outward as he expresses his point.
References
- ^ Interview with Bill Zehme, Richard Lewis: Concerts from Hell: The Vintage Years, Image Entertainment, Released 2005-09-13
- ^ Inside Media: Top TV Stars in Their Own Words / Curb Your Enthusiasm: Larry David On Richard Lewis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0by1eaJJ96E&feature=PlayList&p=CCA7829EA1851A41&index=1
- ^ 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.