Richard Belzer, an American actor and stand-up comedian best known for playing detective John Munch on Law & Order SVU has died at the age of 78. The death was reported to the media by his close friends and coworkers.
After battling an illness for many days, Belzed passed away on Sunday at his home in the south of France. Belzer began his career as a comedian but later aligned himself with conspiracy theories.
Mr.Blazer portrayed the witty, sarcastic homicide detective prone to conspiracies for more than two decades spanning ten shows, including appearances on 30 Rock and Arrested Development. John Munch was portrayed by Mr. Belzer for the first time in 1993 and for the final time in 2016.
Are you interested in learning more about this American stand-up comic and TV detective? Here’s all that you want to know about Richard Belzer.
Who Is Richard Belzer?
Richard Jay Belzer was an American actor, Stand-up comedian, and author who is most known for playing the roles of BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch in the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
He appeared in guest roles on several other shows. He played the role for 23 years before his retirement from 1993 to 2016.
Richard Belzer: Early Life And Education
Belzer was born to a Jewish family on August 4, 1944, in Connecticut. He claimed that his mother routinely beat him and his and his brother’s attempts to make his mother laugh to divert her attention from the abuse she was inflicting on them was the beginning of his comic career.
Richard Belzer began working at the Bridgeport Post as a reporter after completing his high school studies at Fairfield Warde High School. He was expelled from college while attending Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts
Richard Belzer: Career In Entertainment Industry
Belzer began his Stand-up comedy career after relocating to New York. He was a member of the Channel One comedy troupe that mocked television and served as the inspiration for the cult film The Groove Tube, in which Belzer played the co-star of the spoof show The Dealers.
Belzer made three guest appearances on Saturday Night Live between 1975 and 1980. He serves as the show’s opening act comedian.
Belzer started acting in films occasionally in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There is a brief skit featuring a younger Richard Belzer in a 1978 episode of Sesame Street’s ninth season. He is renowned for his supporting roles in Scarface, Fame, Cafe Flesh, and Night Shift. He appeared as an LAPD detective in the A Very Brady Sequel.
Besides fil career, Belzer was featured on the National Lampoon Radio Hour, a comedy program aired on more than 600 US stations in the 1970s. He co-hosted the New York City radio show Brink and Belzer on 660 AM WNBC in the late 1970s.
He appeared on The Howard Stern Show frequently. He also appeared as the host of the radio station, Air America Radio. He was frequently featured as a guest on Alex Jones’s right-wing radio show.
Belzer made frequent appearances on television in the 1990s. He frequently appeared as a news presenter and reporter on The Flash.
He played Inspector William Henderson in multiple episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. After that, he played detective John Munch in both the New York City-based Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and the Baltimore-based Homicide: Life on the Street television series.
John Munch is the only fictional character to appear on eleven separate television programs played by a single actor.
Richard Belzer: Movies And TV Series
Richard Belzer began his acting career in the 1970s and has been successful in every character he has done so far. Here’s a list of a few movies in which Belzer appeared in different roles.
- The Groove Tube (1974)
- Fame (1980)
- Scarface(1983)
- The Wrong Guys (1988)
- Fletch Lives (1989)
- The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
- Mad Dog and Glory (1993)
- North (1994)
- Girl 6 (1996)
- Species II (1998)
- Copy That (2006)
- Polish Bar (2009)
- The Comedian (2016)
- Gilbert (2017)
Below given are a few of the TV Series in that Belzer played a part:
- Saturday Night Live (1975-80)
- Sesame Street (1978
- Miami Vice (1986)
- The Flash (1990)
- Homicide: Life on the Street ( 1993-99)
- Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1994)
- Elmopalooza (1998)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-2016)
- Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers (2009)
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015)
Richard Belzer: As An Author
Belzer has written five books on conspiracy theories which he inspired by his thought that there was a conspiracy theory to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. Here are the five books that he wrote on conspiracy theories.
- UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Believe (2000)
- Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country’s Most Controversial Cover-Ups.
- Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination.
- Corporate Conspiracies: How Wall Street Took Over Washington.
- Someone Is Hiding Something: What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?
Other books written by Richard Belzer include:
- How To Be a Stand-Up Comic
- I Am Not a Cop!: A Novel
- I Am Not a Psychic!
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Richard Belzer: Personal Life
Belzer’s first marriages with Dalia Danoch in 1976 and with Gail Susan in 1966 ended in divorce after a few years of togetherness. In 1985, he married Harlee McBride, an American actress, with whom he had two stepdaughters.
Richard Belzer survived testicular cancer in 1984. His HBO program and comedy CD Another Lone Nut mocked both this and his popularity as a well-known conspiracy theorist.
At the age of 73, Leonard Belzer, Belzer’s older brother, killed himself by jumping off the roof of a luxury apartment building in York City in 2014. Belzer’s father had also killed himself in 1968.
Richard Belzer: Death
The 78-year-old American actor, author, and comedian died on February 19, 2023, at his residence, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, due to complications from unidentified circulatory and respiratory illnesses.
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