If ever a friendship was destined to exist in Hollywood, it could have been that between comedians Larry David and Richard Lewis, who died of a heart attack on Tuesday at the age of 76. They were born just three days apart in 1947 in the same Brooklyn hospital. . When they were 12, they met at a summer sports camp and instantly detested each other. That would set the tone that would define their friendship (and their on-screen relationship) for the rest of their lives.
“I really disliked him” Lewis told The Spectator last year, calling young David cocky and arrogant. “When we were playing baseball, I tried to hit him with the ball. We were archrivals. I couldn't wait for camp to end just to get away from Larry. I'm sure he felt the same way.” (He did. “We hate each other,” David said. during a 2002 interview.)
About a decade later, they found themselves performing at the same New York comedy club, both honing their similar brand of neurotic humor, but at first they didn't recognize each other. Later that night, something clicked inside Lewis: “I looked at his face and said, 'There's something about you, man, that scares me.'” With that, her memories of him were refreshed.
“We became instant best friends,” David said of Lewis. during that 2002 interview, at the Paley Center for Media. In 2010, speaking with Howard SternLewis said: “When I became a comedian, he loved my job and I loved his job.”
“For most of my life, he has been like a brother to me,” David said of Lewis in a statement Wednesday, shared by HBO. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me cry and I will never forgive him for that.”
David was not available for questions Thursday morning.
Last month, Lewis spoke with the Times' Melena Ryzik about those early days. “Without sounding too pompous about it, I always liked comedians who were equal on and off stage,” Lewis said, referring to David. “There wasn't too much fake stuff, they didn't create a character, they just were who they were.”
David is “the storyteller of my generation,” Lewis continued, comparing the “Seinfeld” co-creator to Norman Lear.
The duo suppressed their initial feuding energy and comedic impulse to brilliant effect on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” David's long-running comedy series for HBO, in which they both play exaggerated versions of themselves. perfecting the art of petty disputes and incessant fights on the smallest topics, such as alleged robbery of an outgoing answering machine message. Lewis has appeared in about 40 episodes, including the current season, the show's twelfth and final season.
“Our relationship in life is, I would say almost exactly, what it is in life and what it is on the show,” David said in the Paley Center interview. “We yelled at each other. We fight all the time, but we have a lot of fun. We have a great time. It's a great friendship. I love it.”
A few weeks ago, in a interview with Vanity Fair, Lewis, who announced last year that he had Parkinson's disease and would be retiring from stand-up, spoke warmly about how the show had continued to solidify their bond. “I can't express how loving he is, the best friend you could ever imagine,” Lewis said. “The show gives me another vehicle to express my feelings to Larry, because we are the oldest of friends.”
Over the years, Lewis has told stories of their friendship that could easily have been “Curb” plotlines.
“Some of my idiosyncratic things in my behavior that he picks up on, and he's done since we were teenagers, he's actually remembered most of the juicier ones and put them into the show.” Lewis told the Los Angeles Times last month.
A constant in life and in “Curb” is that the couple fights over the bill when they go out to eat. “I always show up early and give the restaurant my credit card,” Lewis said. Washington Post in 2020, recalling a case particularly similar to “Curb.” “We placed our order. I'm only there five or six minutes and Larry realizes that he has a poker game at Steve Martin's and leaves. And I'm eating alone, with a check for $400.”
AND In 2017, Lewis said radio host Rich Eisen about the time he gave David a birthday gift of Yankees memorabilia, including “rare Mickey Mantle cufflinks,” along with a personal letter about how much David meant to him. He got up from the table so David could read it alone: “too much love,” Lewis said. When he returned, David was halfway there because his parking meter was running out. “When you have that kind of money and the meter is running out, the guy should be institutionalized,” Lewis said jokingly. “And I'm supposedly one of his best friends. “This whole thing sucks.”