“My kitchen was the toughest room I ever worked. “She always had some rationale for hitting us,” he told People magazine in 1993. His penchant for comedy grew out of an abusive childhood and a mother who beat him and his older brother, Len. So I’m not upset about being typecast at all.” “Much to my delight, because he is a great character for me to play, it’s fun for me. So it’s doubly flattering to me to see me depicted in a script and that I’m so recognizable and lovable as the sarcastic detective and smart-ass,” Belzer said in a 2008 interview. “I never asked anyone to be on their show. A puppet who looked like Munch even showed up on Sesame Street. He also popped up on The Beat, Law & Order: Trial by Jury and The Wire and played the cop for laughs on Arrested Development, 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The character announced his retirement from the NYPD in 2014, but Munch returned a couple years later for the 17th-season episode “Fashionable Crimes.”īelzer as Munch showed up on a 1997 episode of The X-Files that appropriately dealt with the origins of the show’s resident conspiracists - the Lone Gunmen. Munch’s sardonic demeanor turned out to be perfect for the grim tone of the series, and Belzer stayed 14 seasons.

Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) was brought over from Law & Order to head the squad. Olivia Benson ( Mariska Hargitay) and Det. When Law & Order: SVU debuted in September 1999, Munch had relocated from Baltimore to New York to join forces with Det. Wolf, however, was in the process of developing a Law & Order spinoff to focus on the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit, the division that investigates sexually based crimes. So he called and Dick said, ‘What a great idea, but I’ve already cast Jesse Martin to be the new guy. “And then I remembered that Benjamin Bratt was leaving L&O, and so I called my manager and said, ‘Call Dick Wolf - maybe Munch can become Briscoe’s partner’ - because we had teamed for the crossover. “When Homicide was canceled, I was in France with my wife and she said, ‘Let’s open a bottle of champagne and toast: You did this character for seven years,'” Belzer recounted in the 2009 book Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Unofficial Companion. He had appeared as Munch on NBC’s Law & Order three times from 1996-99 and thought he might be a good fit on that show.

When it ended in 1999, the actor wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the role. The pencil-thin Belzer portrayed Munch on all seven seasons of the NBC series. “We were looking at some other actors, and when I heard him, I said, ‘Why don’t we find out about Richard Belzer?” Levinson said. In a 2016 interview for the website The Interviews: An Oral History of Television, Homicide executive producer Barry Levinson recalled listening to Belzer on The Howard Stern Show and liking him for Munch. The only time I wonder why is when they tell me the truth,” went a typical Munch retort. He’d often resort to dry, acerbic wisecracks to make his point: “I’m a homicide detective. Munch made his first appearance in 1993 on the first episode of Homicide and his last in 2016 on Law & Order: SVU. In between those two NBC dramas , Belzer played the detective on eight other series, and his hold on the character lasted longer than James Arness’ on Gunsmoke and Kelsey Grammer’s on Cheers and Frasier.Ĭertainly one of the most memorable cops in TV history, Munch - based on a real-life Baltimore detective - was a highly intelligent, doggedly diligent investigator who believed in conspiracy theories, distrusted the system and pursued justice through a jaded eye. Lori and George Schappell, Oldest Living Conjoined Twins, Die at 62 “He had lots of health issues, and his last words were, ‘Fuck you, motherfucker,'” Scheft said.īelzer made his film debut in the hilarious The Groove Tube (1974), warmed up audiences in the early days of Saturday Night Live and famously was put to sleep by Hulk Hogan. He was 78.īelzer died early Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southwest France, writer Bill Scheft, a longtime friend of the actor, told The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved Novem– via World Radio History.Richard Belzer, the beloved comedian who began as an edgy stand-up performer before finding further fame as the cynical but stalwart detective John Munch on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has died. ^ 'Jaaroverzichten – Album 1975' (in Dutch).^ 'KC And The Sunshine Band Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)'.^ 'KC And The Sunshine Band Chart History ( Billboard 200)'.^ ' – KC & The Sunshine Band – KC & The Sunshine Band'.^ ' – KC & The Sunshine Band – KC & The Sunshine Band' (in Dutch).Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies.

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