American actor and comedian (1944?2023)
Richard Belzer
|
---|
|
Born
| Richard Jay Belzer
(
1944-08-04
)
August 4, 1944
|
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Died
| February 19, 2023
(2023-02-19)
(aged 78)
|
---|
Education
| |
---|
Occupations
| |
---|
Spouses
| -
Gail Susan Ross
(
m.
1966;
div.
1972)
-
Dalia Danoch
(
m.
1976;
div.
1978)
-
|
---|
Relatives
| Henry Winkler
(cousin)
|
---|
Comedy career
|
Medium
| - Stand-up
- film
- television
- books
- radio
|
---|
Years active
| 1972?2016
|
---|
Genres
| |
---|
Subject(s)
| |
---|
Notable works and roles
| John Munch
on
Homicide: Life on the Street
and
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
|
---|
|
Richard Jay Belzer
(August 4, 1944 ? February 19, 2023) was an American actor, comedian, and author.
[2]
He was best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/sergeant and investigator
John Munch
,
[3]
whom he portrayed for 23 years in the
NBC
police drama
series
Homicide: Life on the Street
,
[4]
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
[3]
and several guest appearances on other series.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Belzer was born in
Bridgeport, Connecticut
, on August 4, 1944,
[5]
to a Jewish family.
[6]
[7]
He described his mother as frequently
physically abusive
, and he declared that his comedy career began when trying to make her laugh to distract her from abusing him and his brother. After graduating from
Fairfield Warde High School
, Belzer worked as a reporter for the
Bridgeport Post
.
[6]
Belzer attended
Dean College
, which was then known as Dean Junior College, in
Franklin, Massachusetts
, but was expelled.
[8]
Career
[
edit
]
Stand-up
[
edit
]
After his first divorce, Belzer relocated to New York City, moved in with singer
Shelley Ackerman
, and began working as a stand-up comic at Pips,
The Improv
, and
Catch a Rising Star
. He participated in the Channel One comedy group that satirized television and became the basis for the cult movie
The Groove Tube
,
in which Belzer played the co-star of the
ersatz
TV show
The Dealers
.
Belzer was the audience warm-up comedian for
Saturday Night Live
[9]
and made three guest appearances on the show between 1975 and 1980. He also opened for musician
Warren Zevon
during his tour supporting the release of his album
Excitable Boy
.
[10]
Film
[
edit
]
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Belzer became an occasional film actor. A short skit of a younger Belzer can be found on
Sesame Street
in a season 9 episode in 1978 when two young men attempt a picnic and boat ride, only to be thwarted by a dog who eats their food. He is noted for minor roles in
Fame
,
Cafe Flesh
,
Night Shift
,
Scarface
, “Girl 6”, and
Fletch Lives
. He appeared in the
music videos
for the
Mike + The Mechanics
song "
Taken In
", the
Pat Benatar
song "Le Bel Age", and the
Kansas
song "Can't Cry Anymore" all of which were made by Flattery Yukich Inc (Producer Paul Flattery and Director Jim Yukich). He appeared in
A Very Brady Sequel
as an
LAPD
detective.
[11]
Radio
[
edit
]
In addition to his film career, Belzer was a featured player on the
National Lampoon Radio Hour
with co-stars
John Belushi
,
Chevy Chase
,
Bill Murray
,
Gilda Radner
, and
Harold Ramis
, a half-hour comedy program aired on 600 plus U.S. stations from 1973 to 1975.
[12]
Several of his sketches were released on National Lampoon albums, drawn from the
Radio Hour
, including several bits in which he portrayed a pithy call-in talk show host named "Dick Ballantine".
[
citation needed
]
In the late 1970s, he co-hosted
Brink & Belzer
on
WNBC
radio (660 AM) in New York City.
[13]
He was a frequent guest on
The Howard Stern Show
. Following the departure of
Randi Rhodes
from
Air America Radio
, Belzer guest-hosted the afternoon program on the network.
[14]
Belzer was a regular guest on the right-wing radio show of
Alex Jones
and appeared on the episode covering the
Boston Marathon bombing
, in which he referred to the bombing as a
false flag
event.
[15]
[
time needed
]
Television
[
edit
]
In the 1980s, Belzer was a regular on
Alan Thicke
's short-lived show
Thicke of the Night
. He also briefly starred in
The Richard Belzer Show
on
Cinemax
,
[16]
and hosted the
Lifetime
cable TV talk show,
Hot Properties.
[11]
By the 1990s, he was appearing frequently on television. He was a regular on
The Flash
as a news anchor and reporter. In several episodes of
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
,
he played
Inspector William Henderson
.
[11]
He followed that with starring roles on the
Baltimore
-based
Homicide: Life on the Street
(1993?1999) and the New York City-based
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(1999?2013), portraying police detective
John Munch
in both series.
[4]
Barry Levinson
, Executive Producer of
Homicide
, said Belzer was a "lousy actor" in audition when he read lines from the script for "
Gone for Goode
", the first episode in the series.
[17]
Levinson asked Belzer to take time to reread and practice the material, then read it again. At his second reading, Levinson said Belzer was "still terrible", but that the actor eventually found confidence in his performance.
[18]
In addition, Belzer played Munch in episodes on seven other series and in a sketch on one talk show, making Munch the only fictional character to appear on 11 different television shows played by a single actor.
[19]
These shows were on six different networks:
- Homicide: Life on the Street
(
NBC
)
- Law & Order
(NBC)
- The X-Files
(
Fox
)
- The Beat
(
UPN
)
- Law & Order: Trial by Jury
(NBC)
- Belzer's appearance on
Trial by Jury
, which aired April 15, 2005, made him the third actor ever to play the same character in six different prime-time TV series. The other two actors are
John Ratzenberger
and
George Wendt
, who played
Cliff Clavin
and
Norm Peterson
, respectively, in
Cheers
(1982?93),
St. Elsewhere
(1985),
The Tortellis
(1987),
Wings
(1990),
The Simpsons
(1994), and
Frasier
(2002).
- Arrested Development
(Fox)
- The Wire
(
HBO
)
- 30 Rock
[4]
(NBC)
- The characters are watching a
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
episode; a scene shot for
30 Rock
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(NBC)
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!
(
ABC
)
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
(
Netflix
), in which he played a John Munch-like character on a fictional
Law & Order
spin-off.
[20]
[21]
In March 2016, executive producer Warren Leight announced Belzer would return to reprise the role in a May 2016 episode of
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, titled "Fashionable Crimes".
[22]
Belzer portrayed Det. Munch for 22 consecutive seasons on
Homicide
(7 seasons) and
Law & Order: SVU
(15 seasons), which exceeded the previous primetime live-action record of twenty consecutive seasons held by
James Arness
(who portrayed
Marshal Matt Dillon
on
Gunsmoke
from 1955 to 1975) and
Kelsey Grammer
(as Dr.
Frasier Crane
on
Cheers
and
Frasier
from 1984 to 2004). This record has since been passed by Belzer's
SVU
co-stars Mariska Hargitay and
Ice-T
.
Belzer appeared in several of
Comedy Central
's televised broadcasts of
Friars' Club
roasts. On June 9, 2001, Belzer himself was honored by the New York Friars Club and the Toyota Comedy Festival as the honoree of the first-ever roast open to the public. Comedians and friends on the dais included Roastmaster
Paul Shaffer
;
Christopher Walken
;
Danny Aiello
;
Barry Levinson
;
Robert Klein
;
Bill Maher
;
SVU
co-stars
Mariska Hargitay
,
Christopher Meloni
,
Ice-T
, and
Dann Florek
; and
Law & Order
's
Jerry Orbach
. At the December 1, 2002, roast of
Chevy Chase
, Belzer said, "The only time Chevy Chase has a funny bone in his body is when I fuck him in the ass."
[23]
Belzer voiced the character of Loogie for most of the
South Park
episode titled "
The Tooth Fairy's Tats 2000
".
[24]
He and
Brian Doyle-Murray
were featured in the tenth-season premiere of
Sesame Street
.
[25]
Author
[
edit
]
Belzer believed there was a
conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy
[26]
and wrote five books discussing
conspiracy theories
:
- UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe
(2000)
[27]
- Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups
[28]
- Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination
[29]
- Corporate Conspiracies: How Wall Street Took Over Washington
[30]
- Someone Is Hiding Something: What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?
[31]
Dead Wrong
and
Hit List
were written with journalist David Wayne and reached
The New York Times
Best Seller list
.
[31]
Someone Is Hiding Something
was also written with David Wayne as well as radio talk show host
George Noory
.
[32]
Belzer's long-time character, John Munch, was also a believer in conspiracy theories, including the JFK assassination. In 2008, Belzer published a novel,
I Am Not a Cop!
, about a fictional version of himself investigating a murder.
[1]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Belzer's first two marriages were to Gail Susan Ross (1966?1972)
[33]
and boutique manager Dalia Danoch (1976 ? c. 1978),
[33]
both of which ended in divorce. In 1981, in Los Angeles, he met 32-year-old
Harlee McBride
, a divorcee with two daughters,
[34]
Bree Benton and Jessica.
[35]
McBride, who had been seen in
Playboy
magazine four years earlier in that year's sex-in-cinema feature, in conjunction with
Young Lady Chatterley
,
[36]
was appearing in
TV commercials
for
Ford
and acting in free theater when she met Belzer at the suggestion of a friend.
[34]
The two married in 1985
[33]
and had a home in
Bozouls
, France.
[1]
Belzer survived
testicular cancer
in 1983.
[34]
His 1997
HBO
special and comedy CD
Another Lone Nut
pokes fun at this medical incident, as well as his status as a well-known
conspiracy theorist
.
On March 27, 1985, four days before the
first WrestleMania
, Belzer repeatedly requested on his TV talk show
Hot Properties
that professional wrestler
Hulk Hogan
demonstrate a wrestling move. Hogan applied a front facelock, which caused Belzer to pass out, and he hit the back of his head on the floor when released.
[37]
After waking up, Belzer was dazed, lacerated and briefly hospitalized.
[38]
He later
sued Hogan for $5 million
and settled out of court for $400,000 in 1990.
[1]
Belzer refers to the settlement in his 1997 HBO stand-up special
Another Lone Nut
, revealing it helped him pay for a home in
Beaulieu-sur-Mer
called the "Chez Hogan" or "Hulk Hogan Estate".
[1]
[39]
Belzer's father and brother both died of suicide, in 1968 and 2014, respectively.
[6]
His cousin is actor
Henry Winkler
.
[40]
Death
[
edit
]
On February 19, 2023, Belzer died from the complications of
respiratory disease
in
Bozouls
, France at the age of 78.
[1]
[39]
[41]
Many paid tribute to Belzer including
Christopher Meloni
,
Mariska Hargitay
,
Ice-T
, and
Dick Wolf
.
[39]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Books
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Koseluk, Chris (February 19, 2023).
"Richard Belzer, Extraordinarily Smart-Ass as a Comic and a TV Cop, Dies at 78"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"Richard Belzer's Books"
. Simon and Schuster
. Retrieved
July 31,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Belzer, Richard (October 16, 2013).
"Munch Madness"
.
The Huffington Post
. Retrieved
December 31,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
Locker, Melissa (October 16, 2013).
"Farewell, Detective Munch: Richard Belzer's Cop Character Leaves
SVU
"
.
Time
.
- ^
"Horoscope".
TV Guide
. January 17, 2022. p. 67.
- ^
a
b
c
"Reports: Richard Belzer's brother dead from suicide"
.
Connecticut Post
. July 31, 2014
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
Steinberg, Jacques (January 14, 2009).
"Two Funny Guys With the Same Name, but Not the Same Jokes"
.
The New York Times
. Archived from
the original
on March 2, 2012
. Retrieved
March 22,
2011
.
- ^
"Richard Belzer"
.
SouthJersey.com
. Retrieved
March 19,
2018
.
- ^
Getlen, Larry (September 24, 2010).
"
'Uncontrollable Wit': An Interview with
Law & Order
'
s Richard Belzer"
.
AARP
. Retrieved
September 4,
2016
.
- ^
Jarvis, Zeke, ed. (2015). "Richard Belzer".
Make 'Em Laugh: American Humorists of the 20th and 21st Century
. Santa Barbara, California:
ABC-Clio
. p. 215.
ISBN
9781440829956
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Richard Belzer, stand-up comic and 'Law & Order: SVU' star, dies at 78"
. Variety. February 19, 2023
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"The National Lampoon Radio Hour"
.
NPR
. November 17, 2003.
- ^
Haller, Scott (July 2, 1979).
"Waking Up Weird: Can Brink and Belzer Save WNBC?"
.
New York
. Retrieved
March 19,
2018
– via Google Books.
- ^
Shea, Danny (April 18, 2008).
"Richard Belzer to Fill in During Randi Rhodes' Air America Time Slot"
.
The Huffington Post
. New York City
. Retrieved
June 14,
2014
.
- ^
"#349: April 15-16, 2013"
.
Knowledge Fight
. September 30, 2019 – via PlayerFM.
- ^
O'Connor, John (November 19, 1984).
"TV REVIEW; 'RICHARD BELZER SHOW,' COMEDY SERIES ON CABLE"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
March 1,
2023
.
- ^
Mendoza, Manuel (June 11, 2003). "Revisit 'Life on the Street'
".
The Dallas Morning News
.
Dallas
, Texas. p. 1E.
- ^
Levinson, Barry
(2003).
Homicide Life on the Street ? The Seasons 1 & 2
(DVD audio commentary).
A&E Home Video
.
- ^
Ganley, Doug (October 16, 2013).
"Richard Belzer retires Detective Munch"
.
CNN
. Atlanta, Georgia.
- ^
a
b
Cruz, Rachel (March 12, 2015).
"
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Recap: "Kimmy Goes to the Doctor"
"
. MovieNewsGuide.com
. Retrieved
March 22,
2016
.
... she and Titus (Tituss Burgess) come across an old episode of
Law Squiggle Order
where Coriolanus Burt (James Monroe Iglehart) is in a scene with actor Richard Belzer.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
a
b
Smith, Courtney E.; Peterson, Jessie (March 6, 2015).
"Everything We Learned From the 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'
"
.
Radio.com
. Archived from
the original
on March 19, 2016
. Retrieved
March 22,
2016
.
There was a Law & Order star, Richard Belzer, in a fake spin-off.
- ^
Abrams, Natalie (March 22, 2016).
"
'Law & Order: SVU': Richard Belzer returning as Detective Munch"
.
Entertainment Weekly
. Retrieved
March 22,
2016
.
- ^
Heffernan, Virginia (December 2, 2002).
"The Meanest Roast"
.
Slate
. San Francisco, California
. Retrieved
December 2,
2002
.
- ^
Crockford, C.M. (August 5, 2022).
"The Law & Order star you likely forgot had a role on South Park"
. Looper
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"The Muppets Meet… Munch?"
.
Observer
. August 22, 2006
. Retrieved
February 8,
2021
.
- ^
Birnbaum, Robert (November 18, 2013).
"JFK Is Still Dead: Another Historiographical Moment"
.
Virginia Quarterly Review
. Charlottesville, Virginia:
University of Virginia
. Retrieved
December 22,
2014
.
- ^
"About the Author: Richard Belzer"
.
Penguin Random House
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"Dead Wrong"
.
Skyhorse Publishing
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"Hit List"
.
Arcade Publishing
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"Corporate Conspiracies"
.
Arcade Publishing
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Elias, Marilyn (Winter 2013).
"Conspiracy Act"
.
Intelligence Report
(152). Montgomery, Alabama:
Southern Poverty Law Center
. Retrieved
December 22,
2014
.
- ^
"Someone Is Hiding Something"
.
Arcade Publishing
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
Castro, Peter (March 29, 1993).
"Richard Belzer: His Wit Honed by Anger, He's a Comic Who Has Gone from Stand-Up to Homicide"
.
People
. Vol. 39, no. 12. Archived from
the original
on September 17, 2008.
RE Ross: "In 1971, a year before the end of his six-year marriage to Gail Susan Ross...." RE Danoch: "In 1976. Belzer worked himself into a second marriage with Dalia Danoch, a boutique manager, but it ended in divorce less than two years later."
- ^
a
b
c
Hiaasen, Rob (February 20, 1997).
"Detective Mensch: A dark comic with a sweetheart of a soul, Richard Belzer has found a new life with 'Homicide'
"
.
The Baltimore Sun
. Baltimore, Maryland.
Archived
from the original on October 7, 2012
. Retrieved
October 7,
2012
.
- ^
Hiaasen,
p. 3
- ^
"Sex Stars of 1977".
Playboy
. December 1977.
- ^
"Hulk Hogan, Richard Belzer, Mr. T ? Infamous Accident Live On TV 1984"
.
YouTube
. November 12, 2009.
Archived
from the original on November 18, 2021.
[
better source needed
]
- ^
Corliss, Richard
(April 15, 2001).
"Hype! Hell Raising! Hulk Hogan!"
.
Time
.
Archived
from the original on June 29, 2011
. Retrieved
July 8,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
Traub, Alex (February 19, 2023).
"Richard Belzer, Detective Munch on 'Law & Order: S.V.U.,' Dies at 78"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"Check out the stars you didn't know were related"
.
TV Guide
.
Archived
from the original on February 10, 2015
. Retrieved
November 13,
2013
.
- ^
Coyle, Jake (February 19, 2023).
"Richard Belzer, stand-up comic and TV detective, dies at 78"
.
Associated Press
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
External links
[
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]
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