Richard Belzer

A stand-up comic, he called his hard-boiled character on the long-running TV drama “Lenny Bruce with a badge.”

Mr. Absent fame or fortune, Mr. Belzer came to own two homes in the south of France, and he built a basketball court at one of them. Belzer accused Mr. In 1971, Mr. But on the inside, he was “scared” — 37 years old and still struggling to afford meals. She died of cancer, and Charles died by suicide before Mr. In a 2010 interview with AARP The Magazine, Mr. He served in the army for a little under a year, then received a discharge on psychiatric grounds after repeatedly injuring himself. Scheft, who has been working on a documentary about Mr. The death was confirmed by Bill Scheft, a friend of Mr. He was the kind of cop who made casual references to Friedrich Nietzsche and the novelist Elmore Leonard.

Actor Richard Belzer, who parlayed his stand-up comedy chops into a career playing the iconic role of police detective John Munch in NBC's “Homicide: Life ...

Belzer hosted a late-night cable talk show, “Hot Properties.” In one of the most notorious moments of the show, Hogan placed Mr. He used the settlement to buy his homes in France, Scheft said. “Because of the nature of the victim and the perpetrator, they really find out a lot. In the 1980s, Mr. Belzer decided to try out for a part in an underground theater production advertised in the Village Voice. He took on odd jobs, including a stint as a writer for the Bridgeport Post newspaper. Belzer, born in Bridgeport, Conn., struggled with what he called a “bitter childhood.” His abusive mother died when he was 20, and his father killed himself four years later. “And yet he is not known before that as one of the most influential stand-up comics in the late ’70s. In 1971, Mr. [reported](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/richard-belzer-dead-homicide-law-order-1235329813/) by the Hollywood Reporter, has led to an outpouring of tributes from friends and colleagues in television and comedy who remember Mr. [post](https://www.instagram.com/p/Co2x6wMvOcu/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D) on Instagram that he had first worked with Mr. Belzer’s cousin, wrote “Rest in peace Richard.” Several shared his most famous moments, including the time he was [knocked out](https://twitter.com/TrivWorks/status/1627351566490677248) by wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Standup comedian played police role in Homicide: Life on the Streets, Law & Order: SVU and other series.

He later said the SNL creator, Lorne Michaels, reneged on a promise to work him into the show. In 2008, with Michael Ian Black, Belzer published the novel I Am Not a Cop! He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro’s 1974 film The Groove Tube, a satire co-starring Chevy Chase that grew out of the comedy group Channel One. Belzer never auditioned for the role. A dream, really.” So it’s been a lot of fun for me.

A stand-up comic, he called his hard-boiled character on the long-running TV drama “Lenny Bruce with a badge.”

Mr. Absent fame or fortune, Mr. Belzer came to own two homes in the south of France, and he built a basketball court at one of them. Belzer accused Mr. In 1971, Mr. But on the inside, he was “scared” — 37 years old and still struggling to afford meals. She died of cancer, and Charles died by suicide before Mr. In a 2010 interview with AARP The Magazine, Mr. He served in the army for a little under a year, then received a discharge on psychiatric grounds after repeatedly injuring himself. Scheft, who has been working on a documentary about Mr. The death was confirmed by Bill Scheft, a friend of Mr. He was the kind of cop who made casual references to Friedrich Nietzsche and the novelist Elmore Leonard.

Belzer died Sunday at his home in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, in southern France.

"Munch was based on a real guy in Baltimore who was a star detective, in a way. Belzer often played a stand-up comic in film, including in 1980’s "Fame" and 1983's "Scarface." He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro's 1974 film "The Groove Tube," a TV satire co-starring Chevy Chase, a film that grew out of the comedy group Channel One that Belzer was a part of. Before "Saturday Night Live" changed the comedy scene in New York, Belzer performed with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and others on the National Lampoon Radio Hour. In 2008, Belzer published the novel "I Am Not a Cop!" For more than two decades and across 10 series — even including appearances on "30 Rock" and "Arrested Development" — Belzer played the wise-cracking, acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories.

The actor was a warm-up comedian on 'Saturday Night Live' before appearing as Detective Munch on the police procedural.

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Richard Belzer, the longtime stand-up comedian who became one of TV's most indelible detectives as John Munch in "Homicide: Life on the Street" and “Law ...

In 1985, Belzer had Hogan as a guest on his cable TV talk show “Hot Properties” to perform a chin-lock on him. “Munch was based on a real guy in Baltimore who was a star detective, in a way. That fall, “Law & Order: SVU” premiered, with Belzer starring alongside Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni in a storyline written as though Munch had transferred from Baltimore to New York. “I wanted to make him one of the original characters on ‘SVU.’ The rest is history. He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro’s 1974 film “The Groove Tube,” a TV satire co-starring Chevy Chase, a film that grew out of the comedy group Channel One that Belzer was a part of. As one of the most influential comedians of the ’70s, Belzer was a master of crowd work. In 2008, Belzer published the novel “I Am Not a Cop!” with Michael Ian Black. In 1975, he became the warm-up comic for the newly launched “SNL.” While many cast members quickly became famous, Belzer’s roles were mostly smaller cameos. One of his favorite lines was: “I have a microphone. Before “Saturday Night Live” changed the comedy scene in New York, Belzer performed with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and others on the National Lampoon Radio Hour. For more than two decades and across 10 series — even including appearances on “30 Rock” and “Arrested Development” — Belzer played the wise-cracking, acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories. The actor Henry Winkler, Belzer’s cousin, tweeted, “Rest in peace Richard.”

For over two decades, Richard Belzer played cynical and wise-cracking detective John Munch. That character was made iconic on the show Law and Order.

He was famous for playing "John Munch" for over two decades in 10 different series.

In 1985, Belzer had Hogan as a guest on his cable TV talk show “Hot Properties” to perform a chin-lock on him. “Munch was based on a real guy in Baltimore who was a star detective, in a way. That fall, “Law & Order: SVU” premiered, with Belzer starring alongside Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni in a storyline written as though Munch had transferred from Baltimore to New York. “I wanted to make him one of the original characters on ‘SVU.’ The rest is history. He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro’s 1974 film “The Groove Tube,” a TV satire co-starring Chevy Chase, a film that grew out of the comedy group Channel One that Belzer was a part of. In 2008, Belzer published the novel “I Am Not a Cop!” with Michael Ian Black. As one of the most influential comedians of the ’70s, Belzer was a master of crowd work. One of his favorite lines was: “I have a microphone. For more than two decades and across 10 series — even including appearances on “30 Rock” and “Arrested Development” — Belzer played the wise-cracking, acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories. But Belzer became one of the era’s top stand-ups. From that unlikely beginning, Belzer’s Munch would become one of television’s longest-running characters and a sunglasses-wearing presence on the small screen for more than two decades. The actor Henry Winkler, Belzer’s cousin, tweeted, “Rest in peace Richard.”

Unlike his TV characters, his live shows were marked by spontaneity and physicality. He could even keep up with Robin Williams line by line.

And part of the job of the MC is to be alert to the value of spontaneous moments. [10th anniversary of Catch a Rising Star ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzhAZ_gbyvU)that aired on HBO in 1982. In an interview for a documentary on him that has yet to be released, Belzer recalled once taking an hour and forty-five minutes to bring up the next comic. “Sometimes I laugh with the audience because I’m hearing the joke the same time they are.” Belzer didn’t get famous as quickly as many of his peers, but he was a cult figure with wide influence in comedy. “There’s a lot of parts of New Jersey that are very nice,” he said, responding to one guy from the state. If the crowd wasn’t laughing, he could lay on a guilt trip: “Could you be a little more quiet? Today, crowd work is much easier to see, in specials but also all over social media, where it has become a critical part of marketing and selling tickets for young comics. Once he arrived at the microphone, he made a point of engaging with the studio audience in a way you rarely saw on television. [who died Sunday](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/19/arts/television/richard-belzer-dead.html), is best known for his performances as a detective on TV, but his acting career was built on a signature persona in comedy, as a master of seductive crowd work who set the template for the MC in the early days of the comedy club. He could charm with the best of them, but unlike many performers, he didn’t come off as desperate for your approval. With that opening pivot, he turned the relationship between comedian and crowd upside-down.

Richard Belzer, was an American actor, author, and comedian. Belzer's estimated net worth was $16 million. Belzer is best known for his role as Detective ...

Richard Belzer played the character of Detective John Munch on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" for 21 seasons before his departure from the show in 2013. Belzer's character had been a part of the show since its inception in 1999, and the producers wanted to give the character a fitting farewell. In the show's 15th season, Detective Munch retired from the NYPD, and his character was written out of the series. Belzer appeared in a number of films throughout his career, including "Fame," "Scarface," and "The Bonfire of the Vanities." Belzer's character, Detective John Munch, made his first appearance on "Homicide: Life on the Street", which aired from 1993 to 1999. He performed on several notable television shows, including "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and "Saturday Night Live."

His first film or television credit was the low-budget sketch comedy movie The Groove Tube, a very much of-its-time project co-starring Chevy Chase and musician ...

Belzer wrote many books over the years, including novels set in the comedy world and another as a fact-meets-fiction play about himself working with actual New York detectives. Over 20 years, the John Munch character appeared in more series (either for real or as a parody) In 1983 he appeared as the emcee in Brian De Palma’s Scarface making no shortage of cocaine jokes. The Connecticut-born talent began his career in New York City comedy clubs and was a presence in the outer orbit of Saturday Night Live in the mid-1970s. He appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, and Don Kirshner's ‘Rock Concert’. He was also a writer and performer for The National Lampoon Radio Hour alongside Chase, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Michael O’Donoghue, Gilda Radner, and Harold Ramis.

Belzer was one of TV's most indelible detectives as John Munch in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU.

He later said SNL creator Lorne Michaels reneged on a promise to work him into the show. He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro's 1974 film The Groove Tube, a TV satire co-starring Chevy Chase, a film that grew out of the comedy group Channel One that Belzer was a part of. Before Saturday Night Live changed the comedy scene in New York, Belzer performed with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and others on the National Lampoon Radio Hour. "My kitchen was the toughest room I ever worked," Belzer told People magazine in 1993. From that unlikely beginning, Belzer's Munch would become one of television's longest-running characters and a sunglasses-wearing presence on the small screen for more than two decades. For more than two decades and across 10 series — even including appearances on 30 Rock and Arrested Development — Belzer played the wise-cracking, acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories.