Richard Belzer

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Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer.JPG
Belzer at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2009
Birth name Richard Jay Belzer
Born (1944-08-04)August 4, 1944
Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Bozouls, France
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • film
  • television
  • books
  • radio
Genres
Subject(s)
Spouse Gail Susan Ross (m. 1966; div. 1972)
Dalia Danoch (m. 1976; div. 1978)
Harlee McBride (m. 1985)
Relative(s) Henry Winkler (cousin)
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, stand-up comedian, and author.[1] He is best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch,[2] whom he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street[3] and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,[2] as well as in guest appearances on several other series. He portrayed the character for 23 years, from 1993 until retiring in 2016.

Early life and education

Belzer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on August 4, 1944,[4] to a Jewish family.[5][6] He described his mother as frequently physically abusive, and he declared that his comedy career began when trying to make his mother laugh to distract her from abusing him and his brother.[7] After graduating from Fairfield Warde High School, Belzer worked as a reporter for the Bridgeport Post.[5]

Belzer attended Dean College, which was then known as Dean Junior College, in Franklin, Massachusetts, but was expelled.[8]

Career

Stand-up

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 costar of the ersatz TV show The Dealers.[9]

Belzer was the audience warm-up comedian for Saturday Night Live[10] and made three guest appearances on the show between 1975 and 1980.[11] He also opened for musician Warren Zevon during his tour supporting the release of his album Excitable Boy.[12]

Film

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Belzer became an occasional film actor. A short skit of a younger Richard 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 small roles in Fame, Café Flesh, Night Shift, and Scarface. He appeared in the music videos for the Mike + The Mechanics song "Taken In" and for the Pat Benatar song "Le Bel Age", as well as the Kansas video "Can't Cry Anymore". He appeared in A Very Brady Sequel as an LAPD detective.[citation needed]

Radio

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.[13] 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 660AM WNBC radio in New York City.[14] He has been 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.[15]

Belzer has been 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.[16]

Television

In the 1990s, Belzer appeared 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.[citation needed]

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.[3] 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 has 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 eleven 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-star Mariska Hargitay.

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 costars 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 Tats 2000".[citation needed] He and Brian Doyle-Murray were featured in the tenth-season premiere of Sesame Street.[24]

Author

Belzer believed there was a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy[25] and has written five books discussing conspiracy theories:

  • UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Believe (2000)[26]
  • Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country’s Most Controversial Cover-Ups[27]
  • Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination[28]
  • Corporate Conspiracies: How Wall Street Took Over Washington[29]
  • Someone Is Hiding Something: What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?[30]

Dead Wrong and Hit List were written with journalist David Wayne and reached The New York Times Best Seller list.[30] Someone Is Hiding Something was also written with David Wayne as well as radio talk show host George Noory.[31] 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.[32]

Personal life

Belzer's first two marriages were to Gail Susan Ross (1966–72)[33] and boutique manager Dalia Danoch (1976 – c. 1978),[33] both of which ended in divorce. In 1981 in Los Angeles he met 31-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]

Belzer survived testicular cancer in 1983.[34] His 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, days prior to the inaugural WrestleMania, Belzer requested on his cable TV talk show Hot Properties that Hulk Hogan demonstrate one of his signature wrestling moves. After being asked by Belzer several times, Hogan put Belzer in a front chin-lock, which caused Belzer to pass out.[37] When Hogan released him, Belzer hit his head on the floor, sustaining a laceration to the scalp that required a brief hospitalization.[38] Belzer sued Hogan for $5 million and settled out of court for $400,000 in 1990.[32] He used the incident in his HBO special Another Lone Nut as part of his stand-up routine, and used the settlement to help pay for a home in Bozouls, France, where he resided in retirement.[32]

Belzer's older brother, Leonard Belzer, died by suicide at age 73 in the early morning hours of July 30, 2014, by jumping from the roof of the New York City luxury apartment building in which he had resided. Belzer's father had also died by suicide, in 1968.[7]

Following a period of declining health, Belzer died at his home in France on February 19, 2023, at the age of 78.[32]. According to his friend, novelist Bill Scheft, his last words were "Fuck you, motherfucker".[39]

Filmography

Film

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 AKA 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 N/A
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[40]

Television

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 Season 5 episode 106 (uncredited)
1978 Sesame Street Man in Row Boat #1 Episode: "(#1186)"
1984 The Richard Belzer Show Himself Six episodes
1985 Moonlighting Leonard Episode: "Twas the Episode Before Christmas"
1986 Miami Vice Captain Hook Episode: "Trust Fund Pirates"
1989 Tattingers N/A Episode: "Ex-Appeal"
AKA 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; AKA 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

References

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  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 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. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Hiaasen, p/ 3
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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