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Richard Lewis: A True Mensch
Jewish comedian Richard Lewis, who died at the age of 76 in Los Angeles, was known for his whirlwind of nervous energy. On a recent episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lewis told Larry David he was putting him in his will, and Larry said it was not necessary. But it’s clear that Lewis will be remembered very fondly by the public, and by those who knew him best.
“He’s one of two comedians I paid to see,” comic Elon Gold told me in an interview.
Gold started comedy at 16 so he would get to see comedians for free; the other comic he paid to see was Gilbert Gottfried.
“[Lewis] was a hero to me,” Gold said. “He was always in my top five. Any time he was on [David] Letterman I dropped everything and watched it and went crazy laughing. He was a combination of Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce, two of the greatest comedians who ever lived. He took that mantle and that voice and coined the term neurotic. I think he was actually mad when other Jewish comedians would use that word. Like Larry [David] said [about Lewis], ‘sweetest guy, funniest guy, that’s a rare combo.’”
Gold guest starred on the show Anything But Love, and got to work with Lewis.
“He couldn’t have been kinder to me,” Gold said. “He was gracious, sweet, and always funny. He had troubles but used it to his advantage. He took torment and trauma that was his childhood and mined it for comedy gold. When you can do that, you’ve won at the game of life.”
Gold joined the cast of Curb in season 11 as a Hulu executive, and said while he didn’t get a chance to do any scenes with Lewis, that Lewis was extremely complimentary.
I interviewed Lewis in 2014. But at first, our wires got crossed about the correct time, and my phone was off. He left a hilarious message that I’ve saved. “What was that like a little Jewish soprano?” Lewis said. “Hey, it’s Alan over here, over there I’m not in. Leave your number. Hey, I’ve been a comedian and an actor and an author for 45 years. I call you exactly on time. I don’t give you any of this fake Jewish mob stuff. You know what I mean? Come on, grow up. Alan, it’s Richard Lewis … What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you there? What are you doing up there? You sending weather balloons up? There’s got to be an excuse that warrants you not being at the phone. I sold out Carnegie Hall in ’89. You know where you were in ’89? Nowhere. You weren’t born yet…”
He wanted to make it clear that he was joking, so he then asked me how his acting was. He was extremely kind in the interview, and said he was never sure that he would be a star.
“It doesn’t cost anything to be a mensch,” Lewis told me when I asked him how one stays grounded in Hollywood with fame and fortune.
He was one of my favorite comedians because he would say unexpected things, like when he said his mother had “major open guilt surgery” on The Johnny Carson Show.
In his 2013 documentary House of a Lifetime, Lewis showed a picture of his character from Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which Mel Brooks autographed to a “neurotic Jewish storm.”
Known for wearing black, Lewis was born in Brooklyn on June 29, 1947. He went to Hebrew school, and his father Bill was a co-owner of a catering company in Teaneck, New Jersey. He would graduate from Ohio State University, and was discovered by comedian David Brenner while he did standup in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Lewis’ first big role was as Jewish comedian Billy Gondolstein in Diary of a Young Comic, a TV movie that aired on NBC. In 1985, he gained acclaim for his Showtime special I’m in Pain. He also appeared on the Howard Stern Show numerous times, including when he spoke about how he met Larry David when he was 12, hated him, and they had fistfights, but later became friends.
Lewis battled depression and alcoholism in his life.
Like so many others, I loved watching Lewis in Curb over the years. My favorite moment is when Lewis, after realizing he has called his girlfriend “honey” too early in the relationship, calls a waitress “honey” ten times, so it seems normal and his girlfriend doesn’t think he was trying to fast-track things.
Modi Rosenfeld, another comedian, said it was a pleasure to work with Lewis.
“We worked together at a few different events,” he said. “He’s one of the few comedians who is the same person both on and off stage. Always very friendly and supportive to younger comedians — which I was at the time.”
Comic Eli Lebowicz told me that Lewis stood out as someone with a neurotic nervous energy “and was proud of being a Jew.”
On Sunday night’s episode of Curb, people came up to Lewis to compliment him on his act, including a joke about “the bartender from hell.”
In his book, The Other Great Depression, Lewis wrote: “I figured out while writing my autobiography that I chose applause over tears and booze over fears.”
The author is a writer based in New York.
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Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday
US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States goes into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, a move the president promulgated to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Trump, a Republican, said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.
He cited last Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt is not part of the travel ban.
The travel ban forms part of Trump’s policy to restrict immigration into the United States and is reminiscent of a similar move in his first term when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned expressed dismay and disbelief.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump’s action.
“Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride,” he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the U.S. a luxury airplane for Trump’s use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S.
Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban.
Democratic US lawmakers also voiced concern about the policies.
“Trump’s travel ban on citizens from over 12 countries is draconian and unconstitutional,” said US Representative Ro Khanna on social media late on Thursday. “People have a right to seek asylum.”
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Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.
Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.
Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.
A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.
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Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg
FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen .. does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave.
Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.
“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.
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