Hollywood has lost one of its best.
Richard Belzer – the actor, comedian and writer best known for starring as detective John Munch in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – has died.
He is 78 years old.
Belzer died early Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southwestern France, according to writer Bill Scheft, a longtime friend of the actor.
“He had a lot of health problems, and his last words were, ‘Fuck you, bastard,'” Scheft told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday.
Belzer made his big screen debut in The Groove Tube (1974) and then warmed up audiences early on Saturday Night Live.
He made his first appearance in 1993 in the first episode of Murder and last as Mulch in 2016 in Law & Order: SVU.
Between the two NBC dramas, Belzer portrayed an equally jaded and acerbic member of the police force eight other programs.
“I never asked anyone to be on the show. So, I was very happy to see myself portrayed in the script and that I could be recognized and loved as a sarcastic and smart-ass detective,” Belzer said in a 2008 interview.
“I’m very happy, because he’s a great character for me to play, I’m happy.
“So I’m not tired of being typecast.”
After news of his death became public earlier today, Belzer was mourned by several famous friends and household names.
“Richard Belzer passed away. He was an original. One of the greats, dude. I love the man. RIP,” wrote Marc Maron, for example.
“The Belz … Even holding his dog he’s always the coolest cat in the room,” added Jeff Ross, sharing a throwback photo of Belzer with Bebe’s poodle-fox terrier mix.
In 2016, Belzer released the book Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination.
Other books include, but are not limited to, UFOS, JFK and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Believe and Dead Wrong: The Straight Facts About the Nation’s Most Controversial Shutdown.
Belzer is survived by his wife Harlee McBride, whom he married in 1985.
May he rest in peace.
o