24 Facts About Richard Belzer

1.

Richard Jay Belzer was an American actor, comedian and author.

2.

Richard Belzer described his mother as frequently physically abusive, and he declared that his comedy career began when trying to make her laugh to distract her from abusing him and his brother.

3.

Richard Belzer attended Dean College, which was then known as Dean Junior College, in Franklin, Massachusetts, but was expelled.

4.

Richard Belzer participated in the Channel One comedy group that satirized television and became the basis for the cult movie The Groove Tube, in which Belzer played the costar of the ersatz TV show The Dealers.

5.

Richard Belzer was the audience warm-up comedian for Saturday Night Live and made three guest appearances on the show between 1975 and 1980.

6.

Richard Belzer opened for musician Warren Zevon during his tour supporting the release of his album Excitable Boy.

7.

Richard Belzer is noted for minor roles in Fame, Cafe Flesh, Night Shift, Scarface, and Fletch Lives.

8.

Richard Belzer appeared in A Very Brady Sequel as an LAPD detective.

9.

Richard Belzer was a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show.

10.

Richard Belzer was a regular guest on the right-wing radio show of Alex Jones and appeared on the episode covering the Boston Marathon bombing, in which he referred to the bombing as a false flag event.

11.

Richard Belzer briefly starred in The Richard Belzer Show on Cinemax, and hosted the Lifetime cable TV talk show, Hot Properties.

12.

Richard Belzer was a regular on The Flash as a news anchor and reporter.

13.

Barry Levinson, Executive Producer of Homicide, said Richard Belzer was a "lousy actor" in audition when he read lines from the script for "Gone for Goode", the first episode in the series.

14.

Levinson asked Richard Belzer to take time to reread and practice the material, then read it again.

15.

At his second reading, Levinson said Richard Belzer was "still terrible", but that the actor eventually found confidence in his performance.

16.

Richard Belzer appeared in several of Comedy Central's televised broadcasts of Friars Club roasts.

17.

On June 9,2001, Richard Belzer himself was honored by the New York Friars Club and the Toyota Comedy Festival as the honoree of the first-ever roast open to the public.

18.

Richard Belzer voiced the character of Loogie for most of the South Park episode titled "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000".

19.

Richard Belzer's long-time character, John Munch, was a believer in conspiracy theories, including the JFK assassination.

20.

On March 27,1985, four days before the first WrestleMania, Richard Belzer repeatedly requested on his TV talk show Hot Properties that Hulk Hogan demonstrate a wrestling move.

21.

Richard Belzer was dazed, lacerated and briefly hospitalized after waking up.

22.

Richard Belzer sued for $5 million and settled out of court for $400,000 in 1990.

23.

Richard Belzer refers to this in his HBO stand-up special Another Lone Nut.

24.

Richard Belzer died at his home on February 19,2023, at age 78, from complications of unspecified circulatory and respiratory conditions.