Remembering Richard Belzer: Stand-up Comedian, Actor, and Author

Richard Belzer, who died in France on Sunday at the age of 78, was an American actor, stand-up comedian, and author. 

He was best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/​Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch, whom he portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,as well as in guest appearances on several other series. He portrayed the character for 23 years, from 1993 until retiring in 2016.

As Jason Zinoman wrote yesterday in The New York Times,

Belzer is best known for his performances as a detective on TV, but his acting career was built on a signature persona in comedy, as a master of seductive crowd work who set the template for the MC in the early days of the comedy club. Often in jackets and shirts buttoned low, he cut a stylish image, spiky and louche. He could charm with the best of them, but unlike many performers, he didn’t come off as desperate for your approval. He understood that one of the peculiar things about comedy is that the line between irritation and ingratiation could easily blur.

Here's a video clip of a Belzer stand-up comedy performance in 1978 when he imagined what Bob Dylan sounded like at his Bar Mitzvah and what he would sound like as a Yiddish-inflected singer in his 80's.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: The Gat Brothers Sing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" in a Beit Shemesh Forest

Aryeh and Gil Gat, known as The Gat Brothers and The Breslov Brothers and to some, The Amazing Rabbis, made a big hit on the Israeli TV talent show Rising Star in 2013 when they performed Simon and Garfunkel's hit Sounds of Silence before a cheering audience. 

When we posted the video here we got some of the highest ratings from our readers since we started Jewish Humor Central. We've been keeping an eye on Aryeh and Gil, looking for their performances on stage or in the streets of Jerusalem, where they sometimes take up residence on Jaffa Road and in the Mamilla Mall.

Last year they found a new location for their jam sessions -- a forest near Beit Shemesh, a city 19 miles west of Jerusalem.

In this video, they play Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind, complete with harmonica accompaniment.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Throwback Thursday Musical Special: Bob Dylan Sings Hava Nagila at Chabad Telethon in 2005

In 2005, for the 25th anniversary of Chabad telethons, Bob Dylan, Peter Himmelman, and Harry Dean Stanton appeared on stage to sing Hava Nagila for the nationwide Chabad telethon audience.

Bob Dylan, one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 20th century, is known for songs that chronicle social and political issues. He was born Robert Allen Zimmerman (Hebrew: שבתאי זיסל בן אברהם Shabtai Zisl ben Avraham) in in Duluth, Minnesota, and raised in Hibbing, Minnesota, on the Mesabi Range west of Lake Superior. 

Dylan's paternal grandparents, Zigman and Anna Zimmerman, emigrated from Odessa, in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine), to the United States following the anti-Semitic pogroms of 1905. His maternal grandparents, Ben and Florence Stone, were Lithuanian Jews who arrived in the United States in 1902. Dylan's father, Abram Zimmerman – an electric-appliance shop owner – and mother, Beatrice "Beatty" Stone, were part of a small, close-knit Jewish community. 

The late Harry Dean Stanton was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in the films Cool Hand Luke (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Dillinger (1973), The Godfather Part II (1974), Alien (1979), Escape from New York (1981), and many other films. He was given rare lead roles in Wim Wenders' classic Paris, Texas (1984) and Lucky (2017), his last film. One of his most memorable roles was Roman Grant, the self-proclaimed polygamist prophet on the HBO series Big Love.

Peter Himmelman, Bob Dylan's son-in-law, is an American singer-songwriter and film and television composer from Minnesota, who formerly played in the Minneapolis indie rock band Sussman Lawrence before pursuing an extensive solo career. Himmelman, an Orthodox Jew who has never performed on Shabbat, famously turned down The Tonight Show when the date coincided with the Sukkot holiday.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO. 



#Throwback Thursday     #TBT