Law & Order: SVU star Richard Belzer dead aged 78
He died surrounded by family at home, his loved ones have revealed.
Law & Order: SVU legend Richard Belzer has died at age 78.
And, true to his character, he had some pretty epic final words.
Author Bill Scheft told The Hollywood Reporter Richard said: "F**k you, motherf**ker,"
The iconic actor won hearts around the world as police detective John Munch in the eponymic cop show.
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Law & Order and SVU creator Dick Wolf confirmed his death in a statement to Variety.
"Richard Belzer’s Detective John Munch is one of television’s iconic characters," Wolf said.
"I first worked with Richard on the Law & Order/Homicide crossover and loved the character so much, I told Tom [Fontana] that I wanted to make him one of the original characters on SVU.
Wolf added: "The rest is history. Richard brought humor and joy into all our lives, was the consummate professional and we will all miss him very much.”
He starred in the long-running television series for a whopping 14 seasons.
The circumstances of his death have not been revealed.
Longtime family friend Bill Scheft confirmed the news of his passing to The Daily Beast revealing the actor had 'died at home with his family around him'.
"I'm so sad to hear of Richard Belzer's passing. I loved this guy so much," Scheft said.
Saturday Night Live star Laraine Newman, who worked with Belzer during his appearances on SNL, took to Twitter to confirm the death of her pal and to offer her fond memories of the late star.
"He was one of my first friends when I got to New York to do SNL,” she said in a tweet.
"We used to go out to dinner every week at Sheepshead Bay for lobster.
"One of the funniest people ever. A master at crowd work. RIP dearest."
Belzer’s cousin, fellow actor Henry Winkler, tweeted 'Rest in peace Richard' in response.
Belzer started out his career as a comedian before picking up what would become his iconic role in Law & Order: SVU.
The beloved actor was catapulted to worldwide stardom with his SVU character Munch in 1993.
The character went on to appear in 11 different shows across multiple networks, from The X-Files to Arrested Development.
His character first jumped through television universes when he switched over to Law & Order: SVU for the first episodes in 1999.
"I love the character. The writers got to know me. The character of Munch was really close to how I do things," he said in a 2017 interview with Smashing Interviews
"It was a dream come true for me and an utter delight to play this character for so many years. I’m very lucky."
Belzer had a few minor roles in some pretty major films before his breakout role of Detective Munch.
He appeared in Scarface, Nightshift, and The Groove Tube.
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, Entertainment
Rachel Lang