Biography

Richard Belzer

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Born
August 4, 1944 · Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
Died
February 19, 2023 · Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes, France (undisclosed)
Birth name
Richard Jay Belzer
Nickname
- The Belz
Height
6′ 1¼″ (1.86 m)

A social misfit, Belzer was kicked out of every school he ever attended, due to his uncontrollable wit. His mother (Frances) died of breast cancer when Richard was 18. Four years later, his father (Charles) committed suicide. A dedication is written to Charles Belzer in Richard Belzer's "UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Believe" (Ballantine Books, 1999).
- IMDb mini biography by: Tom Myers <myers_tom17@yahoo.com>

Is the only actor in television history to play the same character (Detective John Munch) in 11 different live-action series: Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), Law & Order (1990), The X-Files (1993), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), The Beat (2000), Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005), Arrested Development (2003), The Wire (2002), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003), 30 Rock (2006), and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015).
He lives in France and speaks French fluently.
His character Detective John Munch, whom he played continuously on Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) from January 1993 to May 2016, was the longest-running character on U.S. prime-time drama television.
Testified on behalf of a low-level criminal who ran onto the set of Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) while fleeing actual Baltimore police and surrendered to the actors; Belzer said the look on the guy's face was sufficient punishment.
Was the audience warm-up comedian for Saturday Night Live (1975) in its premiere season and made three guest appearances on the show in 1976 and 1978.

I've known Chevy Chase for so long, I actually knew him when he was funny!
Anybody who thinks there's not a vast right-wing conspiracy in this country must also think that Ken Starr should be our next ambassador to Luxembourg.
[on his long-running character, Detective John Munch] Munch is the guy who says what a lot of people wouldn't dare say.
It's this patronizing thing that people have about if you're against the war everyone's lumped together. You know, the soldiers are not scholars, they're not war experts.
[on United States soldiers serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom] You think everyone over there is a college graduate? They're 19- and 20-year-old kids who couldn't get a job.

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