![]() ![]() He appeared in the city’s comedy clubs, including Catch a Rising Star and The Improv, and was known for his unsympathetic comments on political and social events of the time. John Munch in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Justin Stephens/NBC/Getty Imagesĭespite his crime-solving career, the Connecticut-born actor’s early focus was on comedy and rooted in New York City. “I don’t think there’s a comic of our generation who wouldn’t cite Richard Belzer, as not only a major influence, but as absolutely the funniest guy,” said Paul Shaffer, the comedian and musician on David Letterman’s late night shows. Other fond memories came from comedians Billy Crystal, Richard Lewis and Laraine Newman, who singled out his comedic crowd work. I feel blessed to have known you and adored you and worked with you, side by side, for so many years.” “I will miss you, your unique light, and your singular take on this strange world. “Goodbye my dear, dear friend,” Hargitay wrote on Instagram. His colleagues, among them Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay, offered praise of their co-star. “Richard brought humor and joy into all our lives, was the consummate professional, and we will all miss him very much.” I told Tom (Fontana) that I wanted to make him one of the original characters on ‘SVU.’ The rest is history,” Wolf said. “I first worked with Richard on the ‘Law & Order’ / ‘Homicide’ crossover and loved the character so much. In a statement posted to the Twitter account for Wolf Entertainment, “Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf said Belzer’s Munch character was “one of television’s iconic characters.” Over the course of his career, Belzer portrayed a detective in 11 television series, including “The Wire” and “The X-Files.” He made crossover appearances in-character in the comedies “30 Rock,” “Arrested Development” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and his detective Munch was even turned into a muppet in the “Sesame Street” skit “ Special Letters Unit.” They write to all my paranoia and anti-establishment dissidence and conspiracy theories, so it’s been a lot of fun for me. “The character is very close to how I would be. “I would never be a detective, but if I were, that’s how I’d be,” he said in a recent interview with The Boomer Tube. His scrawny, wisecracking, glasses-wearing investigator became over time one of the most recognizable cops in TV crime show history. Like Belzer himself, detective Munch had a conspiratorial mindset, a Jewish background and a dry sense of humor. Though his character retired in 2013, he returned in two additional episodes after his departure. He reprised that role in the TV movie “Homicide: The Movie” in 2000 and also appeared as the famed detective in four episodes of “Law & Order.”īelzer appeared as Munch again in “Law & Order: SVU,” where he became a series regular, appearing in 326 episodes between 19. Writer Bill Scheft, a longtime friend of the actor, told The Hollywood Reporter that Belzer had “lots of health issues.”īelzer was famed for his role as Detective Munch, first appearing on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” from 1993 to 1999. He was 78.īelzer “passed away peacefully” early Sunday morning local time at his home in France, according to Eric Gardner, his manager. Singer Kushi Murali suffered a heart stroke when he was travelling to Kakinada in a train and died on January 11, 2013.Richard Belzer, the comedian and actor best known for playing the acerbic Detective John Munch across a number of NBC crime dramas, including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” over more than two decades, has died, according to his longtime manager. Veteran music director Jetti Veera Raghavulu died in Rajahmundry on June 7, 2013. An upcoming actor Boochepalli Kamalakar Reddy who featured in the film 'Abhi' died at the age of 34. While veteran producer Tammareddy Krishnamurthy died on September 16, 2013, another well-known producer Vadde Ramesh succumbed to cancer on November 21. In the very next month on December 7, another comedian and television presenter Dharmavarapu Subramanyam passed away. AVS succumbed to a liver disorder on November 8. Soon after, the Telugu film industry again plunged into gloom with the death of two veteran comedy actors. Tollywood got a jolt when actor Srihari (49) died in Mumbai on October 9, 2013. And now, actor Uday Kiran committed suicide. 2013 proved to be a tragic year for the Telugu film industry with the death of as many as 10 artistes including veteran actors and a director and a producer. HYDERABAD: Tollywood is perpetually mourning because of deaths in the industry. ![]()
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