He set the record for most times portraying a character on TV and he never held back in his comedy. Richard Belzer died at the age of 78 today. He died at his home in France and his longtime friend Bill Scheft said that his last words were “Fuck you, motherfucker.”
Belzer started his career away from the beat and cop shows, he was the warm-up act for Saturday Night Live nad starred in The Groove Tube. His career was changed forever when he made an appearance in 1993 on the first episode of Homicide as Detective John Munch. He parlayed that into a role on Law and Order: SVU and appeared in eight other series as the character. Going from 1993 all the way until 2016.
Munch was not your average TV cop, he had a writ and an edge to him that you didn’t see on TV. It was helped by Belzer’s comic timing and cadence that could never be matched. After Homicide was canceled, he convinced Dick Wolf to put him on his new spinoff show Law and Order: SVU. It was that show that really introduced mainstream audiences to Munch alongside Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, and Dann Florek.
He also made an appearance alongside Mulder and Scully on The X-Files in 1997 and dealt with the show’s conspiracy theorists. He made appearances on The Beat, Law & Order: Trial By Jury, The Wire, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and even had a puppet of Munch on Sesame Street.
He’s survived by his wife Harlee McBride, and stepdaughters Jessica and Bree.
Join us in celebrating the life and career of Richard Belzer.
For more on Movie News, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
