Mourning for “Law & Order” great Richard Belzer: The actor who played Detective John Munch died at the age of 78.
Actor and comedian Richard Belzer has died at the age of 78. Belzer died on Sunday evening (February 19) in his adopted country of France, as writer Bill Scheft (66), a good friend of the actor, confirmed to the site. “He had a lot of health problems,” Scheft said. The exact cause of death is not known.
Richard Belzer played the cynical and kind-hearted “Law & Order” investigator John Munch for almost 250 episodes. : “Richard Belzer was the first actor to welcome me when I joined SVU [“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, Anm. d. Red.] began. The actor was always open-minded, warm-hearted, biting, quick-witted and surprisingly kind.
Also series leading actress Mariska Hargitay (59): “Goodbye, my dear, dear friend. I will miss you, your unique light and your unique view of this strange world. I feel blessed, known you, admired you and with you to have worked side by side for so many years.” , on which he gives Belzer a kiss on the cheek. He wrote: “Goodbye my dear. I love you.”
Started as a comedian
Belzer had started his career in the spotlight as a stand-up comedian in the late ’60s. He then worked for years as a warm-up comedian on the US cult format “Saturday Night Live”. However, he also got small roles in Hollywood early on, for example in 1983 in the gangster epic “Scarface” with Al Pacino (82) or in the short-lived series “The Flash” (1990-1991). He made his debut as Detective John Munch in 1996, back then on the main series Law & Order. From 1999 he was one of the main investigators in the first installment of the series, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
