Richard Jay Belzer (August 4, 1944 – February 19, 2023) was an American actor, comedian, and author.[ and in several guest appearances on other series.
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Early life and education
Belzer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on August 4, 1944,
Belzer attended Dean College, which was then known as Dean Junior College, in Franklin, Massachusetts, but was expelled.
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 sketch comedy movie The Groove Tube, in which Belzer played multiple roles.
Belzer was the audience warm-up comedian for Saturday Night Live
Film
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 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.
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 American radio stations from 1973 to 1975.
In the late 1970s, he co-hosted Brink & Belzer on WNBC radio (660 AM) in New York City.
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.
Television
In the 1980s, Belzer was a regular on Alan Thicke's short-lived show Thicke of the Night. He also briefly hosted his own comedy show, titular and popular The Richard Belzer Show on Cinemax,
He followed that with starring roles on the Baltimore-based (1993–1999) and the New York City-based (1999–2013), portraying police detective John Munch in both series.[ 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.]
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.
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(NBC)
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Law & Order (NBC)
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The X-Files (Fox)
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The Beat (UPN)
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(NBC)
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Belzer's appearance on Trial by Jury, which aired April 15, 2005, made him the third actor ever to play the same character in six different prime-time TV series. The other two actors are John Ratzenberger and George Wendt, who played Cliff Clavin and Norm Peterson, respectively, in Cheers (1982–93), St. Elsewhere (1985), The Tortellis (1987), Wings (1990), The Simpsons (1994), and Frasier (2002).
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Arrested Development (Fox)
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The Wire (HBO)
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30 Rock
[ (NBC)
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The characters are watching a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode; a scene shot for 30 Rock
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(NBC)
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Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), in which he played a John Munch-like character on a fictional Law & Order spin-off.
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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".
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 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."
Belzer voiced the character of Loogie for most of the South Park episode titled "The Tooth Fairy's Tats 2000".
Author
Belzer believed there was a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy
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UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe (2000)
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Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups
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Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination
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Corporate Conspiracies: How Wall Street Took Over Washington
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Someone Is Hiding Something: What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?
Dead Wrong and Hit List were written with journalist David Wayne and reached The New York Times Best Seller list.
Personal life
Belzer's first two marriages were to Gail Susan Ross (1966–1972)[ and boutique manager Dalia Danoch (1976 – c. 1978),][ both of which ended in divorce. In 1981, in Los Angeles, he met 32-year-old Harlee McBride, a divorcée with two daughters,][Hiaasen, p. 3] 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,[ The two married in 1985][ 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."] and had a home in Bozouls, France.[
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Belzer survived testicular cancer in 1983.[ 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.
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On March 27, 1985, four days before the WrestleMania I, 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.[ 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".]
Belzer's father and brother both died by suicide, in 1968 and 2014, respectively.
Death
On February 19, 2023, Belzer died from complications of respiratory disease in Bozouls, France at the age of 78.
Many paid tribute to Belzer, including Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, and Dick Wolf.[
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Filmography
Film
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| 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 |
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Television
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| 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 | | John Munch | , regular cast |
| 1994 | | Inspector William Henderson | Episode: ""
Episode: ""
Episode: ""
Episode: "" |
| 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 | 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 | | John Munch | , regular cast |
| 2000 | | 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: "" |
| 2005 | | 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 |
| 30 Rock | Season 7 episode 12 |
| 2015 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | A John Munch-like character | One episode: "Kimmy Goes to the Doctor!" |
Books
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UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe,
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How to Be a Stand-Up Comic,
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I Am Not a Cop!: A Novel,
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I Am Not a Psychic!,
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Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups,
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Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination,
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Someone Is Hiding Something: What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?,
External links
