Richard Lewis’ Wife Joyce Lapinsky Speaks Out for First Time, Thanks Fans for the “Loving Tributes”

Richard Lewis‘ wife Joyce Lapinsky is expressing her gratitude for the myriad of tributes following the late actor’s death.

Lewis died peacefully Tuesday night at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 76 after suffering a heart attack, his publicist told The Hollywood Reporter. 

In a statement shared to the late actor’s X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Lewis’ wife Joyce thanked everyone for the condolences and kind words sent about Lewis.

“This is Joyce, Richard’s wife. Thank you for your loving tributes. He would be beyond thrilled and so touched, as am I,” she wrote.

She went on to share that “in response to the many queries,” she knows Lewis “would appreciate donations in his memory to the Los Angeles based charity http://comedygivesback.com” or a charity of choice.

This is Joyce, Richard’s wife. Thank you for your loving tributes. He would be beyond thrilled and so touched, as am I. In response to the many queries , I know Richard would appreciate donations in his memory to the Los Angeles based charity https://t.co/AUssZsKb62 or the…

— Richard Lewis (@TheRichardLewis) March 1, 2024

Last April, the Curb Your Enthusiasm actor and comic had revealed that he had been living with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up. 

“For the last three-and-a-half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time,” he said on social media at the time. Lewis had stepped away from Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2021 and returned for the now-airing final season. Despite dealing with illness while filming season 12, the show’s executive producer Jeff Schaffer praised Lewis to THR.

Following the news of Lewis’ death, many in Hollywood took to social media to remember and pay tribute including Larry David, Jamie Lee Curtis and Cheryl Hines.

David shared in a statement: “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. 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.”

Lewis’ Curb Your Enthusiasm co-star Hines, shared a statement on Instagram, writing, “When I was young I had the biggest crush on Richard Lewis. He was the funniest person on stage and the most handsome comedian. Then when I was cast on Curb Your Enthusiasm, I got to work with him and it was a dream come true.”

“Through the years I learned who Richard really was and the gifts he gave,” Hines continued. “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. To be loved by Richard Lewis. A true gift. I love you Richard. You will be missed. Sending my love to Joyce and to all of Richard’s family. Larry, Richard adored you. But you know that.”

Meanwhile, Lewis’ Anything but Love co-star Jamie Lee Curtis wrote in a message, “I remember exactly where I was when I saw a billboard of him about a stand-up special on Sunset Boulevard when we were casting the ABC pilot Anything but Love and asked the casting people to bring him in to audition to play my best friend/maybe boyfriend, Marty Gold. I thought he was handsome. He made me laugh, which is the one thing that a strong, capable woman, can’t really do for herself. He got the part when I snort laughed when he mispronounced the word Bundt cake. He blew everyone else away. It was a love triangle show and they didn’t pick up that pilot but they came back to me and said that the chemistry with Richard was so great and could we revamp the original pilot which is the show we ended up making for a couple years.”