Richard Lewis has died at the age of 76. Ben Lazarus interviewed him for the magazine last year:

Richard Lewis first met Larry David at a summer sports camp, aged 12. ‘I disliked him intensely. He was cocky, he was arrogant,’ Lewis says. ‘When we played baseball I tried to hit him with the ball: we were arch rivals. I couldn’t wait for the camp to be over just to get away from Larry. I’m sure he felt the same way.’

Eleven years later they met again on the New York stand-up scene – but didn’t recognise each other. One evening, as they drank into the night, it dawned on them. ‘I looked at his face and I said, “There’s something about you, man, that spooks me.” Just saying that spooks everyone!’ It clicked. ‘“You’re Richard Lewis!” “You’re Larry David!”… I was yelling at him, he was yelling at me.’

It was an unlikely figure who helped Lewis get clean: Ringo Starr

So began one of TV’s great, tempestuous friendships. The new series of Curb Your Enthusiasm is due out on HBO later this year and Lewis, 76, who’s talking to me on Zoom from his home in LA (sitting in front of a picture of the late stand-up Lenny Bruce), has high hopes for it. ‘Larry never does the show unless he thinks it’s going to be better than the last,’ he says. ‘I was in about half the episodes and I know what the other episodes are. At least on paper, and with the guest stars and the cast, he has the best year ever. But he’ll be the judge because he edits it.’

Lewis and David play themselves in the sitcom and fight endlessly. Is this what their real relationship is like? ‘In truth, he loves me and I’m his dearest friend,’ Lewis says of the Curb and Seinfeld creator.

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Interview / ‘I disliked him intensely’: Richard Lewis on first meeting Larry David

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29.02.2024

Richard Lewis has died at the age of 76. Ben Lazarus interviewed him for the magazine last year:

Richard Lewis first met Larry David at a summer sports camp, aged 12. ‘I disliked him intensely. He was cocky, he was arrogant,’ Lewis says. ‘When we played baseball I tried to hit him with the ball: we were arch rivals. I couldn’t wait for the camp to be over just to get away from Larry. I’m sure he felt the same........

© The Spectator


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