Richard Lewis' Road To Curb Your Enthusiasm Literally Started The Day He Was Born
Not every great figure in entertainment had their ultimate path to fame and success mapped out from the start and the late comedian and actor Richard Lewis, who sadly passed away on February 27, 2024, was certainly no exception. His career in stand-up comedy didn't take off until he was in his twenties and even then, that only occurred after pursuing a degree in marketing, of all fields. But every rule has its exception, as they say. For the many viewers who came to love Lewis' frequent appearances on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," that particular collaboration came about through a series of circumstances and coincidences that just might have fans believing in fate and destiny, after all.
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" may be coming to an end with its final season that's currently airing on Max, but there was one last episode released a few weeks ago that featured Lewis in a supporting role — which undoubtedly takes on a more bittersweet tone than originally intended. So as the world mourns and celebrates the contributions of one of our funniest and most popular comedians of the last several decades, what better time to look back at how his friendship with Larry David first came to be and how it resulted in one of the best running gags throughout all 12 seasons of the HBO series? It's truly no exaggeration to say that Lewis' path to "Curb Your Enthusiasm" began almost from the moment he was born.
A lifelong friendship
Only weeks before his sudden death, Richard Lewis was the subject of a Vanity Fair profile that dove deep into his career, his Parkinson's disease diagnosis in recent years, and, most relevantly of all, his love of both "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and the man behind the hit HBO show, Larry David. Such strong creative partnerships don't typically emerge as a result of randomness or chance, particularly in show business, so it shouldn't be a total surprise for fans to learn that Lewis and David were lifelong friends. Their eerily similar connections first took shape beginning in the very year of their birth in 1947, when they were both born a mere three days apart at the exact same hospital in Brooklyn. The two met for the first time at the age of 12 during a local summer camp (according to an interview with The Spectator, first impressions of one another were somewhat less than ideal) and later reconnected a decade later while working as comedians in New York City.
The comedic duo had been close friends ever since and, while talking to Vanity Fair, Lewis talked glowingly of how his friendship with David resulted in him joining "Curb" and playing an exaggerated version of himself:
"I can't tell you how loving he is — the best friend you could ever imagine. The show gives me another vehicle to express my feelings to Larry, because we are the oldest of friends."
Such strong bonds are a rarity in this industry, which only makes the loss of Lewis hurt that much more. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" gives fans one final chance to pay their respects, as the final season is currently airing on Max.