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Richard Belzer, the longtime stand-up comedian who became one of TV's most indelible detectives as John Munch in 

Belzer died Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southern France, his longtime friend Bill Scheft 

. Comedian Laraine Newman first announced his death on Twitter. The actor Henry Winkler, Belzer's cousin, wrote "Rest in peace Richard."

For more than two decades and across 10 series — even including appearances on 

 — Belzer played the wise-cracking, acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories. Belzer first played Munch on a 1993 episode of 

Belzer never auditioned for the role. After hearing him on 

, executive producer Barry Levinson brought the comedian in to read for the part.

"I would never be a detective. But if I were, that's how I'd be," Belzer once said. "They write to all my paranoia and anti-establishment dissidence and conspiracy theories. So it's been a lot of fun for me. A dream, really."

From that unlikely beginning, Belzer's Munch would become one of television's longest-running characters and a sunglasses-wearing presence on the small screen for more than two decades. In 2008, Belzer published the novel 

 with Michael Ian Black. He also helped write several books on conspiracy theories, about things like President John F. Kennedy's assassination and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

"He made me laugh a billion times," his longtime friend and fellow stand-up Richard Lewis said on Twitter.

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Belzer was drawn to comedy, he said, during an abusive childhood in which his mother would beat him and his older brother, Len. "My kitchen was the toughest room I ever worked," Belzer told 

After being expelled from Dean Junior College in Massachusetts, Belzer embarked on a life of stand-up in New York in 1972. At Catch a Rising Star, Belzer became a regular. He made his big-screen debut in Ken Shapiro's 1974 film 

, a TV satire co-starring Chevy Chase, a film that grew out of the comedy group Channel One that Belzer was a part of.

 changed the comedy scene in New York, Belzer performed with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and others on the 

. In 1975, he became the warm-up comic for the newly launched 

. While many cast members quickly became famous, Belzer's roles were mostly smaller cameos. He later said SNL creator Lorne Michaels reneged on a promise to work him into the show.  

The Associated Press

Author

Belzer was one of TV's most indelible detectives as John Munch in 

Belzer was one of TV's most indelible detectives as John Munch in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU.


Richard Belzer, stand-up comic and TV detective, dies at 78

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