Richard Lewis said that he had been ‘doing quite well’ health-wise amid his Parkinson’s disease battle, in an interview less than three weeks ago.
The beloved comic, who died at 76 Tuesday following a fatal heart attack, spoke with People February 9, saying that he was ‘disappointed’ that he had to skip a January 30 season 12 premiere party for Curb Your Enthusiasm, to avoid any setbacks amid his health battle.
‘I have some occasional walking difficulties with Parkinson’s the last couple of years,’ Lewis, who played a fictionalized version of himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm since 2000, told the publication. ‘It’s not major.’
Lewis continued: ‘I’m getting through it fine so far, but I didn’t want to go to, spend five or six hours mingling with so many people. It’s just asking for trouble.’
Lewis, who appeared in films such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Wagons East, Once Upon a Crime… and Leaving Las Vegas, wrapped up in saying, ‘All things considered, I’m doing quite well.’
Richard Lewis said that he had been ‘doing quite well’ health-wise amid his Parkinson’s disease battle in an interview less than three weeks ago, before his death at 76 Tuesday. Pictured in NYC in 2015
The comedian took to social media April 24, 2023, revealing he’d been battling Parkinson’s disease since 2021.
‘Hey listen, I just wrapped a couple of weeks ago season 12 of Curb Your Enthusiasm and it was just an amazing season and I’m so grateful to be a part of that show,’ he said. ‘But you know the last three-and-a-half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time and people said, “I haven’t heard from you, are you still touring?”
Lewis said, ‘Well, here’s really what happened,’ noting he decided to stop touring three-and-a-half years back, feeling like the time had come.
‘I said, “You know, I’m at the top of my game – after 50 years almost, I’m just going to call it quits,”‘ he said. ‘And I felt great about that. And then out of the blue, the s*** hit the fan.’
Lewis, who starred on the ABC series Anything But Love opposite Jamie Lee Curtis from 1989-1992, said he underwent four consecutive surgeries on his back, shoulder and hip, adding that ‘it was bad luck, but that’s life.’
Lewis said that ‘on top of all of that,’ he began ‘walking a little stiffly’ and ‘shuffling’ his feet two years back, leading him to visit a neurologist. He said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease following a brain scan.
‘Luckily I got it late in life, and they say you progress very slowly if at all and I’m on the right meds and it’s cool,’ Lewis said. ‘I just wanted you to know that that’s where it’s been at.
‘I’m finished with standup, I’m just focusing on writing and acting. I have Parkinson’s disease but I’m under a doctor’s care and everything is cool and I love my wife, I love my little puppy dog and I love all of my friends and my fans.’
Lewis told People earlier this month that he was ‘disappointed’ that he had to skip a January 30 season 12 premiere party for Curb Your Enthusiasm, to avoid any setbacks amid his health battle. Pictured in 2017 in LA
The comedian took to social media April 24, 2023, revealing he’d been battling Parkinson’s disease since 2021
Lewis’ lifelong friend Larry David was among those to mourn him publicly upon news of his passing.
‘Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,’ David said in a statement released by HBO. ‘He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.’
Among the other notable names in entertainment who hailed the late comedian included Bette Midler, Steve Martin, Jimmy Kimmel, Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks and Michael McKean, among others.