Joyce Lapinsky thanked Richard Lewis’ fans and colleagues on Friday for their “loving tributes” to the late comedian, who died on Tuesday. He was 76.
“This is Joyce, Richard’s wife. Thank you for your loving tributes,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “He would be beyond thrilled and so touched, as am I. In response to the many queries, I know Richard would appreciate donations in his memory to the Los Angeles based charity Comedy Gives Back or the charity of your choice.”
Comedy Gives Back is a nonprofit created to help comedians in need. It was co-founded by former “Late Show” booker Zoe Friedman, talent manager Jodi Lieberman and Amber J Lawson, who was a comedy television developer and Chairman of Interactive Media for the Academy of Television.
Among those who have publicly mourned Lewis was “Curb Your Enthusiasm” costar Larry David. “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,” he wrote.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who costarred with the late comedian on the ABC sitcom “Anything But Love” from 1989 to 1992, wrote on Instagram that Lewis is “the reason I am sober.”
“I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone,” Curtis wrote. “He found love with Joyce and that, of course, besides his sobriety, is what mattered most to him. I’m weeping as I write this. Strange way of saying thank you to a sweet and funny man. Rest in laughter, Richard.”
Ben Stiller also remembered Lewis as “really iconic” on social media: “I never met a kinder, more empathetic comedy genius. He was so funny. And deep.”
The comedian passed peacefully at his Los Angeles home Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, his publicist Jeff Abraham told TheWrap.
Lewis revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in April 2023 after privately dealing with it since 2021. He was absent for most of Season 11 from David’s HBO comedy series so he could recover from several surgeries, though he later surprised viewers by returning for the season finale. He was also able to return for the final season of “Curb.”
