Richard Belzer Didn't Tire of John Munch

Richard Belzer, who established a successful career as a comedian with a biting stand-up routine before playing the cynical, conspiracy theory-believing TV detective John Munch, died Sunday. He died in France, at his home in Bozouls, said a friend, Bill Scheft. He was 78. A cause of death was not released; Scheft said he had many health issues, per the Hollywood Reporter. Belzer had been a warm-up comedian early in Saturday Night Live's run, and Laraine Newman was among those who tweeted tributes Sunday. "I loved this guy so much," she wrote, adding: "One of the funniest people ever. A master at crowd work." Jon Stewart also posted that there was "no better time" than watching Belzer at a comedy club "wreck crowd after crowd."

His combined tenure on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit began in 1993 and ended in 2016. Munch appeared in nine TV series, per Variety, more than any other fictional character. The 22-season run was longer than Marshall Matt Dillon's or Frasier Crane's. Belzer said he never sought a TV role. "So it's doubly flattering to me to see me depicted in a script and that I'm so recognizable and lovable as the sarcastic detective and smart-ass," he said in 2008. "Much to my delight, because he is a great character for me to play, it's fun for me. So I'm not upset about being typecast at all."

Growing up in Connecticut, Belzer said he tried to use humor to distract his mother from beating him and his brother, Len. "She always had some rationale for hitting us," he told People in 1993. "My kitchen was the toughest room I ever worked. I had to make my mom laugh or I’d get my ass kicked." His humor was not always welcome at school. Bezler was eventually kicked out of Dean Junior College in Massachusetts for organizing school protests, then began working at a series of jobs. After his mother died of cancer, his father tried to kill himself. Belzer caught him in time, saving his life, but his father committed suicide a year later. He said the death affected him deeply, and he decided to take a chance on a career in comedy.

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Belzer had a close call on Hot Properties, a Lifetime talk show he hosted, in 1985. Hulk Hogan, a guest, put Belzer in a front chinlock, which knocked him unconscious, then dropped him to the floor, where he hit his head. Belzer sued Hogan and received a $5 million settlement. He said his character was written to reflect his own characteristics. Munch's interest in conspiracy theories wasn't just a bit, for example; Belzer wrote four books about cover-ups, including UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Believe. "I would never be a detective," he once said, per People, "but if I were, that's how I'd be." (More obituary stories.)