The entertainment industry has seen some legendary collaborations that led to enduring friendships. For years on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Richard Lewis appeared alongside Larry David as a dynamite team, and now, David is paying tribute to his coworker after his passing on Tuesday.
Lewis was 76 years old when he passed away from a heart attack; his death follows a string of medical emergencies and surgical procedures years prior. From 2000 to 2024, he appeared in 41 episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, while David held a main role. However, this was just a small taste of the friendship between these two that actually dates back since before either could remember.
Richard Lewis pays tribute to his colleague, friend, and brother Larry David
Remembering #RichardLewis… pic.twitter.com/izDwUBIZHJ
— Curb Your Enthusiasm – Larry David Latest News (@curb_david) February 29, 2024
On Wednesday, HBO, which broadcasts Curb Your Enthusiasm, shared a statement by Lewis dedicated to David, whom he remembers both as a talented colleague and a lifelong friend.
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“Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” David shared. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”
David had been there from the beginning, right down to the 2000 pilot, and quickly became a fan favorite. Even when David was sure health concerns would keep him away, he returned.
A friendship that lasts a lifetime and beyond
When speaking of one another, Larry David and Richard Lewis had nothing but high praise for one another across their careers. Speaking about David, Lewis said, “Without sounding too pompous about it, I always dug comedians who were the same onstage as they were offstage, going on to call him “the storyteller of my generation.”
Their literally life-long friendship bled into Curb Your Enthusiasm just as much as their genuine humor. “Our relationship in life is very much, I would say almost exactly what it is in life as what it is on the show,” said David during a Paley Center interview. “We scream at each other. We fight all the time, but we have a lot of fun. We have a great time. It’s a great friendship. I love him.”
Lewis once called David “the best friend you could ever imagine” and that he “can’t tell you how loving he is.” In Lewis’s view, “The show gives me another vehicle to express my feelings to Larry, because we are the oldest of friends.”
That explains why, even after announcing in 2021 that he would not return to Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lewis did come back while recovering from his surgeries. He also made it back for Season 12, which is currently streaming on HBO.
