Richard Lewis has confirmed the end of his stand-up career and announced a major health update.
Richard Lewis has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
The 75-year-old Curb Your Enthusiasm star confirmed the end of his stand-up career in a new video shared to Twitter on Sunday.
"The last three and a half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time and people said, ‘Gee, I haven’t heard from you' and 'Are you still touring?'” he acknowledged. “Here’s really what happened. Three and half years ago, I was in the middle of a tour and then I finally ended it with a show. I said, ‘You know, I’m at the top of my game. After 50 years almost, I’m going to just call it quits.'"
While the star said he felt "great" about how he signed off on stand-up, "s**t hit the fan" for Lewis "out of the blue" not long after.
"I had four surgeries back-to-back-to-back-to-back,” Lewis recalled, listing off back, shoulder, shoulder replacement and hip replacement procedures. “It was bad luck, but it's life.”
A Parkinson's disease diagnosis followed after he noticed himself walking stiffly and shuffling his feet. “I went to a neurologist and they gave me a brain scan and I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and that was about two years ago,” he said. “But luckily I got it late in life and they say you progress very slowly, if at all, and I’m on the right meds, so I’m cool."
Fortunately, the entertainer will still be appearing on the small screen as he recently wrapped season 12 of Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself.
“I guess I just wanted to let you know that’s where it’s been at,” he concluded his video message. “I’m finished with stand-up. I’m just focusing on writing and acting. I have Parkinson’s disease, but I’m under a doctor’s care and everything is cool and I love my wife, I love my little puppy dog, and I love all of my friends and my fans, and now you know where it’s been at the last three and a half years. God bless you.”
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