Richard Lewis’ Curb Your Enthusiasm co-star remembers comic as ‘most loving’

Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines has remembered her co-star Richard Lewis as “one of the most loving people I know.”

The acclaimed American comedian and actor died at his home in Los Angeles aged 76 on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist, Jeff Abraham.

Paying tribute to the veteran comic was American TV star Hines, 58, who starred opposite Lewis in the American sitcom in which she played Larry David’s wife.

A post to her Instagram said: “When I was young I had the biggest crush on Richard Lewis.

“He was the funniest person on stage and the most handsome comedian.

“Then, when I was cast on Curb Your Enthusiasm, I got to work with him, and it was a dream come true.

“Through the years I learned who Richard really was and the gifts he gave.

“Yes, he was the comedian I fell in love with, but he was also one of the most loving people I know.

“He would take time to tell the people he loved what they meant to him – especially in recent years.

“In between takes on Curb, he would tell me how special I was to him and how much he loved me.

“To be loved by Richard Lewis. A true gift.

“I love you, Richard.”

Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred opposite Lewis in the US sitcom Anything But Love, said the comedian is the reason why she is now sober.

In an Instagram post, she said: “I’ve just read that my friend Richard Lewis has died.

“I remember exactly where I was when I saw a billboard of him about a stand-up special on Sunset Boulevard when we were casting the ABC pilot Anything But Love and asked the casting people to bring him in to audition to play my best friend/maybe boyfriend, Marty Gold.

“I thought he was handsome. He made me laugh, which is the one thing that a strong, capable woman can’t really do for herself.”

She added: “Richard’s last text to me, was hoping that I could convince ABC/Disney to put out another boxed set of episodes of the show.

“He also is the reason I am sober. He helped me.

“I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone.

“He found love with (his wife) Joyce (Lapinsky) and that, of course, besides his sobriety, is what mattered most to him. I’m weeping as I write this.

“Strange way of saying thank you to a sweet and funny man.”

Others to have paid tribute include comedian Jon Stewart, actor Ben Stiller, and Beatles member Ringo Starr.

After graduating from Ohio State University in 1969, New York-born Lewis began a stand-up career, honing his craft on the circuit with other contemporaries alerting out like Jay Leno, Freddie Prinze and Billy Crystal.

For decades, he was a regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV and played the reliably neurotic Prince John in Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.

He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite David in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, kvetching regularly.