Richard Lewis, best known for starring in the sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died. He was 76.
Variety has confirmed the star died after suffering a heart attack.
The comedian’s death follows after he announced in April last year he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring.
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Deadline reported the star’s death was confirmed by his publicist Jeff Abraham, who revealed the actor died overnight at his home in Los Angeles.
“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Abraham told the outlet.
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Lewis was best known for his comedic role on the HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, which he starred in alongside Larry David for 12 season since 1999.
Tributes have already started flowing in for the star, with some Hollywood greats sharing their condolences on social media.
Lewis’ co-star Larry David shared a heartbreaking statement shared by HBO to Variety.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
“On a sad note, the great Richard Lewis has died,” actress Bette Midler wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Actor Patton Oswalt shared a simple photo of the late star on X to pay tribute to Lewis.
“Absolutely devastated by this news. Richard was my hero when I was a standup,” American filmmaker Paul Feig wrote.
“I was lucky enough to get to know him and he was the most wonderful man.”
“So supportive and kind and truly one of the funniest people on the planet. You will be missed, my friend.”
“RIP Richard Lewis. A brilliantly funny man who will missed by all. The world needed him now more than ever,” Defending Your Life actor Albert Brooks wrote.
A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series Anything But Love and the reliably neurotic Prince John in Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.
He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, kvetching regularly.
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“I’m paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror, which I’m not thrilled about,” he once joked onstage.
To Jimmy Kimmel he said: “This morning, I tried to go to bed. I couldn’t sleep. I counted sheep but I only had six of them and they all had hip replacements.”
Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humourists.” He lent his humour for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.
“Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session,” the Los Angeles Times said in 2014.
The Philadelphia’s City Paper called him “the Jimi Hendrix of monologists.” Mel Brooks once said he “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy.”