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Richard Belzer

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Richard Belzer
Belzer at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2009
Born
Richard Jay Belzer

(1944-08-04)August 4, 1944
Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedFebruary 19, 2023(2023-02-19) (aged 78)
Bozouls, France[1]
Education
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • author
Spouses
  • Gail Susan Ross
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1966; div. 1972)​
  • Dalia Danoch
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1976; div. 1978)​
  • ​
    (m. 1985)​
RelativesHenry Winkler (cousin)
Comedy career
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • film
  • television
  • books
  • radio
Years active1972–2016
Genres
Subject(s)
Notable works and rolesJohn 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

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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, Café 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:

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 divorcée 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 by suicide, in 1968 and 2014, respectively.[6] His cousin is actor Henry Winkler.[40]

Death

[edit]

On February 19, 2023, Belzer died from 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

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Film

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Year Film Role Notes
1974 The Groove Tube Rodriguez, Leo Batfish, The President, The Hooker Independent film
1980 Fame M.C.
1982 Café Flesh Loud-mouthed audience member
Author! Author! Seth Shapiro
Night Shift Pig
1983 Scarface M.C. at Babylon Club
Likely Stories, Vol. 3 Richard
1986 America Gypsy Beam a.k.a. Moonbeam
Charlie Barnett's Terms of Enrollment Man Reading Paper
1987 Flicks Stoner Segment: "New Adventures of the Great Galaxy"
1988 The Wrong Guys Richard 'Belz' Belzer
Freeway Dr. David Lazarus
1989 The Big Picture Video Show Host
Fletch Lives Phil
1990 The Bonfire of the Vanities Television Producer
1991 The Flash II: Revenge of the Trickster Joe Kline
Missing Pieces Baldesari
Off and Running Milt Zoloth
1992 Flash III: Deadly Nightshade Joe Kline
1993 Mad Dog and Glory M.C./Comic
Dangerous Game Himself
1994 North Barker
The Puppet Masters Jarvis
1995 Not of This Earth Jeremy Pallin
1996 Girl 6 Caller #4 – Beach
A Very Brady Sequel LAPD Detective
Get on the Bus Rick
1998 The Bar Channel —
Species II U.S. President
1999 Jump Jerry
2006 Copy That Richard
2007 BelzerVizion Himself Also executive producer
2009 Polish Bar Hershel
2010 Santorini Blue Richard Also executive producer
2016 The Comedian Himself
2017 Gilbert Himself Documentary film

Television

[edit]
Year Film Role Notes
1975–80 Saturday Night Live Juror
Chevy Chase
Himself
Museum Visitor 		Season 1 episode 1, season 2 episode 27, season 3 episode 61, and season 5 episode 106 (uncredited)
1978 Sesame Street Man in Row Boat #1 Episode: "(#1186)"
1983-1984 Thicke of the Night Regular
1984 The Richard Belzer Show Himself Six episodes
1985 Hot Properties Host
1985 Moonlighting Leonard Episode: "Twas the Episode Before Christmas"
1986 Miami Vice Captain Hook Episode: "Trust Fund Pirates"
1989 Tattingers — Episode: "Ex-Appeal"
a.k.a. Nick & Hillary
1990–91 The Flash Joe Kline 10 episodes
1991 Monsters Buzz Hunkle Episode: "Werewolf of Hollywood"
1992 Human Target Greene Episode: "Pilot"
1993–99 Homicide: Life on the Street Det. John Munch 122 episodes, regular cast
1994 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Inspector William Henderson Episode: "All Shook Up"
Episode: "Witness"
Episode: "Foundling"
Episode: "The House of Luthor"
Nurses Jesse Wilner Episode: "Fly the Friendly Skies"
Bandit Bandit Big Bob TV film
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart Det. Frank Giordano
1995 Prince for a Day Bernie Silver TV film; a.k.a. The Prince and the Pizza Boy
The Invaders Randy Stein TV film
1996 Deadly Pursuits Mariano
1996–2000 Law & Order Det. John Munch Episode: "Charm City"
Episode: "Baby, It's You"
Episode: "Sideshow"
Episode: "Entitled"
1997 The X-Files Episode: "Unusual Suspects"
Richard Belzer: Another Lone Nut Himself HBO comedy special
When Cars Attack TV film
1997–98 E! True Hollywood Story Episode: "Gilda Radner", "John Belushi"
1998 Elmopalooza  —
1999 Mad About You Detective Sharp Episode: "Stealing Burt's Car"
1999–2016 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Det./Sgt. John Munch 325 episodes, regular cast
2000 Homicide: The Movie Det. John Munch TV film based on the television series
The Beat Episode: "They Say It's Your Birthday"
South Park Loogie (voice) Episode: "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000"
3rd Rock from the Sun Himself Episode: "Dick'll Take Manhattan: Part 1"
2005 Law & Order: Trial by Jury Det. John Munch Episode: "Skeleton"
This is a crossover sequel to the episode "Tombstone" from season 15 of the series Law & Order.
2006 Arrested Development Episode: "S.O.B.s" (uncredited)
Episode: "Exit Strategy"
2008 The Wire Sgt. John Munch Episode: "Took"
2009 Jimmy Kimmel Live! Episode dated October 7, 2009
Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers Himself  —
2013 America Declassified Season 1 episode 1
2015 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt A John Munch-like character[20][21] One episode: "Kimmy Goes to the Doctor!"

Books

[edit]
  • UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe, ISBN 0-345-42918-4
  • How to Be a Stand-Up Comic, ISBN 0-394-56239-9
  • I Am Not a Cop!: A Novel, ISBN 1-4165-7066-7
  • I Am Not a Psychic!, ISBN 1-4165-7089-6
  • Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups, ISBN 1-6160-8673-4
  • Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination, ISBN 978-1620878071
  • Someone Is Hiding Something: What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?, ISBN 978-1632207289

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Richard Belzer's Books". Simon and Schuster. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Belzer, Richard (October 16, 2013). "Munch Madness". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Locker, Melissa (October 16, 2013). "Farewell, Detective Munch: Richard Belzer's Cop Character Leaves SVU". Time.
  5. ^ "Horoscope". TV Guide. January 17, 2022. p. 67.
  6. ^ a b c "Reports: Richard Belzer's brother dead from suicide". Connecticut Post. July 31, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Richard Belzer". SouthJersey.com. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  9. ^ Getlen, Larry (September 24, 2010). "'Uncontrollable Wit': An Interview with Law & Order's Richard Belzer". AARP. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ a b c "Richard Belzer, stand-up comic and 'Law & Order: SVU' star, dies at 78". Variety. February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  12. ^ "The National Lampoon Radio Hour". NPR. November 17, 2003.
  13. ^ Haller, Scott (July 2, 1979). "Waking Up Weird: Can Brink and Belzer Save WNBC?". New York. Retrieved March 19, 2018 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "#349: April 15-16, 2013". Knowledge Fight. September 30, 2019 – via PlayerFM.
  16. ^ O'Connor, John (November 19, 1984). "TV REVIEW; 'RICHARD BELZER SHOW,' COMEDY SERIES ON CABLE". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  17. ^ Mendoza, Manuel (June 11, 2003). "Revisit 'Life on the Street'". The Dallas Morning News. Dallas, Texas. p. 1E.
  18. ^ Levinson, Barry (2003). Homicide Life on the Street – The Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD audio commentary). A&E Home Video.
  19. ^ Ganley, Doug (October 16, 2013). "Richard Belzer retires Detective Munch". CNN. Atlanta, Georgia.
  20. ^ 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]
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Abrams, Natalie (March 22, 2016). "'Law & Order: SVU': Richard Belzer returning as Detective Munch". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  23. ^ Heffernan, Virginia (December 2, 2002). "The Meanest Roast". Slate. San Francisco, California. Retrieved December 2, 2002.
  24. ^ Crockford, C.M. (August 5, 2022). "The Law & Order star you likely forgot had a role on South Park". Looper. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  25. ^ "The Muppets Meet… Munch?". Observer. August 22, 2006. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  26. ^ Birnbaum, Robert (November 18, 2013). "JFK Is Still Dead: Another Historiographical Moment". Virginia Quarterly Review. Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  27. ^ "About the Author: Richard Belzer". Penguin Random House. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  28. ^ "Dead Wrong". Skyhorse Publishing. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  29. ^ "Hit List". Arcade Publishing. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  30. ^ "Corporate Conspiracies". Arcade Publishing. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  31. ^ a b Elias, Marilyn (Winter 2013). "Conspiracy Act". Intelligence Report (152). Montgomery, Alabama: Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  32. ^ "Someone Is Hiding Something". Arcade Publishing. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  33. ^ 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."
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ Hiaasen, p. 3
  36. ^ "Sex Stars of 1977". Playboy. December 1977.
  37. ^ "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]
  38. ^ Corliss, Richard (April 15, 2001). "Hype! Hell Raising! Hulk Hogan!". Time. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  39. ^ 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.
  40. ^ "Check out the stars you didn't know were related". TV Guide. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  41. ^ Coyle, Jake (February 19, 2023). "Richard Belzer, stand-up comic and TV detective, dies at 78". Associated Press. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
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