American comedian, Richard Belzer, dies at 78

Richard Belzer, an American actor and comedian, died at the age of 78.

According to PEOPLE, his death was confirmed by an associate and friend, Bill Scheft, who revealed that the comic died on Sunday, surrounded by family, in his home in Bozouls, France.

Belzer rose to prominence as Detective John Munch in the NBC series ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ from 1993 to 1999. He later played the role again in ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ from 1999 to 2013.

In the early seasons of Saturday Night Live, Belzer served as a warm-up comedian for the audience.

In a statement by Dick Wolf, the creator and Executive Producer of ‘Law & Order: SVU’, Belzer is described as the “consummate professional” who “brought humour and joy” into the lives of his audience.

Wolf’s release read in part, “Richard Belzer’s detective John Munch is one of television’s iconic characters. I first worked with Richard on the Law & Order/Homicide crossover and loved the character so much, I told Tom (Fontana) that I wanted to make him one of the original characters on SVU. The rest is history

“Richard brought humor and joy into all our lives, was the consummate professional, and we will all miss him very much.”