Larry David Says Richard Lewis’ Death Made Him “Sob”: “He’s Been Like A Brother To Me”

Larry David has broken his silence following the death of his Curb Your Enthusiasm co-star and longtime friend Richard Lewis, who died Tuesday (Feb. 27) from a heart attack at the age of 76.

David, who stars in and created Curb Your Enthusiasm, released a heartbreaking statement after the news broke.

“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, per Variety. “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.”

Over the last 24 years, Lewis appeared alongside David in more than 40 episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, including the 2000 pilot “Pants Tent.” He played a fictionalized version of himself, which he previously said was David’s idea in an interview with Vanity Fair.

Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines also mourned Lewis, noting that she had the “biggest crush” on him when she was younger so it was “a dream come true” to work with him on the hit HBO sitcom.

“Through the years I learned who Richard really was and the gifts he gave,” she wrote on Instagram. “Yes, he was the comedian I fell in love with, but he was also one of the most loving people I know. He would take time to tell the people he loved what they meant to him – especially in recent years. In between takes on Curb, he would tell me how special I was to him and how much he loved me.”

She concluded, “Larry, Richard adored you. But you know that.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred alongside Lewis on the ABC comedy series Anything But Love in the ’90s, was another A-lister who paid tribute to the late comedian in several different posts.

“Richard’s last text to me, was hoping that I could convince ABC/Disney to put out another boxed set of episodes of the show,” she wrote in one. “He also is the reason I am sober. He helped me. I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone.”

In a separate post, she added, “Richard Lewis helped people laugh and he helped people heal through his tireless, indefatigable belief in sobriety. The laughs may stop but the healing never does. It’s the power of recovery and fellowship and solidarity and it’s available everywhere all at once. A phone call away. Rest in the knowledge that you helped people, Richard. First of all, me.”