Richard Lewis (comedian)

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For other persons named Richard Lewis, see Richard Lewis (disambiguation).

Richard Philip Lewis (born June 29, 1947) is an American comedian and actor. He has starred in sitcoms such as Hiller & Diller, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Anything but Love. He also plays Matt's rabbi father-in-law on 7th Heaven.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lewis met Larry David, who was born three days after him, at Camp All America, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, when they were thirteen. He is now featured in a recurring role on David's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Lewis claims to be the originator of the expression "the ________ from hell" (the blank from hell) as in "the date from hell" or "the roommate from hell". This theory is expounded in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "The Nanny from Hell". Lewis has petitioned the editors of Bartlett's to be given credit for the coinage, but the editors claim that the phrase was a common idiom prior to Lewis' use of it. [1]

A documentary called Diary of a Young Comic (1974) captures a young Lewis as he moves from New York to Los Angeles.

Lewis has also achieved moderate success in films, appearing as Prince John in Robin Hood: Men in Tights and as Julian Peters in Once Upon a Crime, and a memorable supporting role as a frontier doctor in the 1994 comedy Wagons East, most remembered for being the final film of John Candy.

[edit] Trivia

• Richard Lewis endorsed the popular early 90s beverage, Boku.
• As a teenager Richard Lewis appeared on the Candid Camera television show.
• Lewis has written comic articles for magazines such as Playboy.
• Lewis provided the voice for the golem in the episode of The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror XVII".
• In college, Lewis was in the Alpha Epsilon Pi Jewish fraternity.

[edit] External links

• Richard Lewis' official website
• Richard Lewis at NNDB
• Richard Lewis (comedian) at the Internet Movie Database