RICHARD LEWIS - 1947-2024 The King of Dark Comedy

HIS DOOM-AND-GLOOM ROUTINE MADE HIM A STAR-BUT PLAYING HIMSELF ON CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM BROUGHT HIM HAPPINESS

- ERIC ANDERSSON and JASON SHEELER

Richard Lewis found his look back in the 1980s, and he stuck to it: loose-fitting black, which went well with his permanent air of defeat and hair styled long and high. "I just hope it falls into place rather than falling out," he recently told Vanity Fair, before remembering a conversation he once had with Rod Stewart at a party. "Out of the blue, he says, 'You know how my hair looks so great?' I went, 'Rod, how does your hair look so great?" And he goes, 'Here's the secret: I don't shampoo my hair maybe more than once a week!' I went, "That's it? We were waiting for this?""