Dearest, dearest Richard.
Let me just say, that I am not the guy from Homicide that knows the most about Richard, or the one who maintained our friendship for years after, or spent an enormous amount of time with him after the show ended. But, I spent enough during. I never took him up on his offers to fly to France and hang with him and his wife, mainly because I abhor long flights. But, for the time Homicide was going on and for a couple of years after, we had some good, extended chuckles and I grew to love him.
That said:
I’m going to use more words in CAPS in this article than I would normally use, as I can’t overemphasize his importance in my life at that time, but I’ll try with the caps.
What was this FUCKING GUY doing on Homicide?
It wasn’t a knock. I knew Tom and Barry were canny about who they were hiring and why - but, you could see, at the beginning, he did seem out of his league. Especially, if you were watching a scene from a distance, couldn’t hear the dialogue, and based your judgments of good acting on, “you should know what’s going on in a scene as if it’s a silent film.”
Other than that - he was brilliant and tenacious. They had hired Richard, not because he was a good actor (in fact, the label actor is too limiting for him); they hired him for EVERYTHING he brought to the table. They planned to shape the character of Munch around him and give him just enough to tantalize him as an actor and let him grow into the role (and the role into him), without putting him in impossible-to-act scenes. Richard took that up, would prove everyones worries wrong about his ‘acting chops’, and throw it in our faces. Because he was a force, an icon, a guy who maybe couldn’t do what the other actors could do - but, it was freaking IMPOSSIBLE to do what Richard did. You couldn’t even try cuz he was singular. Exquisite. Grand. Elegant and a street fighter all at once.
So what if he could never play King Lear. Who cares! He’d knock the shit out of The Fool, Gravediggers 1 & 2 in Hamlet, and a few other Shakespearian comedic players. In a long shot, maybe even the titular Hamlet. That would have been a fun take.
But, John Munch would end up being his greatest and longest-running character. Oh - and of ALL TIME. How does that even happen? To me, it’s a combination of talent, the aforementioned tenacity, contacts, luck, and goodwill. AND, AND that John Munch was infinitely adaptable to the circumstances of whichever show, and Richard Belzer was loved and wanted by almost everyone he met.
Except Hulk Hogan who choked him out in a TV stunt and Richard cracked his head. But that payout enabled Richard and Harlee to begin building a fairy tale life in their beloved Bozouls.
My first take was that he was a Dark Prince. He was acerbic and cynical with a unique take on the world. He was sweet beyond belief but could rip the shit out of you. Richard could cut someone down in an aside, with the person one foot away, and then sweetly compliment them as if THAT was his real intention. I don’t remember having too much direct contact with him as Munch in those first couple of episodes. But the first time he cracked dark during a crime scene - I knew all was well. He was there to balance out Ned Beatty’s Bolander and bring on board his much-needed brand of comedy, and in many ways to shape our morgue-hued Homicide humor that he had the confidence to deliver in his Munch rhythms.
Richard had seen his fair share of horrors growing up and his humor was a dagger, pointed outwards to those who were abusive and unfair to others. Usually those in power: the posturing politicians and other cultural vultures.
We can also get all the conspiracy and paranoia stuff out of the way: the Kennedy assassination, Area 51, aliens, etc, etc…All of that stuff he was deeply invested in. For Richard, there was a plan behind the plan behind the plan. The big BUT is this, is it didn’t preclude him from being compassionate, sensitive to other’s needs, kind, generous, and loyal to friends. He kept the set alive with jokes and his take on the…uh…well…really, anything.
With Homicide, I never saw anyone so grateful for being on that show. He was at the time a fairly popular stand-up, but Homicide transformed him into something more. A comedian with acting chops, who soaked up the lessons of working on our set and took them to heart and then out into the world and other gigs.
Also. Richard was a lover. Meaning, he loved Harlee, his wife with his total being. Committed, attentive, caring, and flexible to her needs and proclivities. When they purchased their home in Bozouls, France - that became the place where Harlee’s artistry and total obsession with all things French emerged. She transformed their home and both of them resided there. Richard loved France, spoke the language fluently (*sidenote/update: not true, according to great Belz friend and thorn-in-my-frickin-side, Clark Johnson*), and spoke lovingly and longingly about the town when he was away from it.
Ok. Stories. I’ll try to keep them short, but some went on for days:
1.) Snowed In.
We were returning to work after our Christmas Break. We were on the same flight, and by the time we got to the east coast. They had diverted us to Philadelphia. We were confident that with the blizzards we were good to call in, leave a message for Jim Finnerty the Unit Production Manager, and he would give us a break since Baltimore was snowed in as well. So, we got a hotel room and went about consuming some recreational items. These were moments I cherished with Richard; there was no one I felt safer with, laughed more, or had a more intellectually engaged time with when imbibing.
Little did we know we had made two critical errors: One, thinking that Homicide would shut down for ANYTHING, and two - that Jim Finnerty would understand our ‘situation'.
Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Finnerty. “Get your asses back to work by tomorrow morning - you’re first up!” There was no dealing with him. At this point, we were doomed. Flights were down, our jobs were apparently at risk, and our pleasant vibe was now thrashed.
It was now 10 pm. We miraculously had the presence of mind to track down a flight to New York, in hopes of connecting to Baltimore. It was a horrifying flight. Scariest I’ve been on AND with our brand of partying, I was beyond paranoid. Also, no flights to Baltimore. We had to be on set by 6 am. We hunted down a driver and a car that was just crazy enough to attack the night and chauffeur us to Baltimore. It took close to 6 hours; through traffic jams, accidents, and whiteouts. I was scared out of my gourd the entire way, but Richard had been in far worse situations than these, and between skidding off the freeway and making sure the driver didn’t fall asleep, he kept up a steady patter of jokes, theories, and dissertations to make it feel like we would survive the night. And we did.
2.) NBA All-Star Game and Celebrity All-Star Game.
Richard invited me to go with him to Phoenix, Arizona, and play in the Celebrity All-Star Game with him. We were both basketball fanatics. Richard had told me about playing in high school and averaging 30 points per game and had considered playing in college, but was always being expelled. I had played consistently throughout high school and beyond and thought myself a pretty decent player.
At the game, we were surrounded by behemoths. There were actors but there were also lots of former pro football players, Balt Oriele legend Cal Ripken (who could ball and dunk), and musicians who could also ball out. We definitely felt out of place, but I was a competitive guy and went 1000% as did Richard. I spent most of the game getting bullied around the basket by 280-pound quarterback killers and of course Cal Ripken. But, I held my own. Richard, skinny and smart, stayed outside the fray. I remember thinking, I just want him to score one basket - it would make his night.
On one play, I managed to snag a defensive rebound, spun, and started dribbling downtown. At midcourt I noticed Richard out of the corner of my eye, running his ass off. My buddy and I were in stride together, and he had space around him. I whipped the ball across the court, thinking maybe, just maybe. Richard took the ball in stride, no one on him - but he dribbled it behind his back anyway. Not as an elusive maneuver, but as a grace note, a slight showboat note - cuz, why the hell not? He pulled up, well behind the 3-point line, then smoothly and without hesitation - stroked that ball, off his fingertips, spinning through the air. Like it was nothing, like he had done it hundreds of thousands of times.
Swish.
It was the happiest I felt that entire game, Richard getting that basket. He may have scored a layup as well, but that behind-the-back, flat-footed shot? Unbelievable joy.
And we won.
3.) One hiatus, Richard invited me to stay in his apartment in NYC while he and Harlee were in Bozouls for three months. Great location near Lincoln Center. So excited. Then, the Belz punch line: for three months, workers showed up almost every day to do home improvements. I cursed him.
4.) Richard had been a a yoga and TM teacher back in the 70’s and 80’s. Ned Beatty was also a TM meditator starting in the 80’s along with his wife, Tinker. I learned TM during the first season of Homicide. A coincidence, or, something more…?
5.) One of the highlights of directing Homicide was working with Richard and his stepdaughter, Bree in an episode in the 7th and last season called, The Why Chromosome. We had cast her in a small role, and to see the way Richard worked with her, took care of her, and assisted her in their scenes together was so moving. She was very serious and quite conscientious about preparing for the role, and Richard was protective of the work she put into it. Incredibly sweet. Also, since we were shooting in Munch’s apartment for the first time, I got to help create that atmosphere with Richard’s input. I recall he wanted an old-school, Sinatra, romantic Love Parlor vibe. So, I remember lots of soft, deep red, pluffy things and putting Munch in a silk, smoking jacket. Great fun and fit him to a tee - though I got a call or two from the producers wondering why I thought that was appropriate! Also, I remember working on his Munch walk as he strode with violent intent up to a house to confront someone. We tried to emulate Lee Marvin in Point Blank on that one, and I sent him footage. He did his spin on it and again, I was blown away by the result.
There are so many more, I realize, and maybe I’ll bring them up in the future. For now, I’ll let things stand as they are.
My fondest regards and deepest condolences to all who knew and loved him.
Best to everyone! Until next time.
Thank you for sharing! I loved the character of John Munch (best line: "I AM NOT MONTEL WILLIAMS!") and I named one of my cats Detective Munch. I spent many happy years explaining to people where my cat's name originated. She died at the age of 18, and I still hold her in my heart. She was kind of an asshole, though, which I think is appropriate because so was Belzer's character.
Somewhat related, I also had a cat I named Polly Walnuts after Paulie Walnuts on "The Sopranos" (the cat was female, so I changed the spelling). I currently have a Leeloo (from "The Fifth Element") and a Tulip O'Hare (from "Preacher"). I name all my cats after TV/movie characters ;-)
John Munch was a character who truly went the distance, in so many shows, and that's down to Richard Belzer and the character (in every sense of the word! LOL) he created. What I really admire about Munch is how he could have been so one-note, except that Richard Belzer wasn't afraid to let Munch's vulnerabilities come through. Both the good (trying to protect both Howard and Kellerman from bullets after the detective shooting he witnessed; his goofy yet devoted admiration of "The Big Man") and the bad (giving Pembleton such a hard time in early season 5, deserved or not; his choices in his relationships). In short, Munch wasn't just comic relief.
My absolute favorite episode with Munch is "Kaddish," for obvious reasons as it really gave Munch's backstory, but also for less obvious reasons: he and Kellerman were very surprisingly good together. I don't know if they ever paired together again, but I wish they had - they were unexpectedly compelling together on screen. Munch and Kellerman could have totally written the other off, as opposite as they were, but instead they formed an unexpected bond.
Munch, as much as he kidded around and was hilariously and unapologetically snarky throughout Homicide, also deeply cared, and not just about himself. It sounds like there were definitely parts of Munch that came from Richard Belzer in real life. What a special and deserved tribute.