Jamie Lee Curtis' emotional tribute to Richard Lewis following his death at 76

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...son-sober.html

By JACQUELINE LINDENBERG and CHRISTINE RENDON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 20:32 EST, 28 February 2024 | UPDATED: 21:22 EST, 28 February 2024

Jamie Lee Curtis paid an emotional tribute to her close friend and Curb Your Enthusiasm star, Richard Lewis, who passed away on Tuesday at age 76 due to a heart attack.

The Halloween actress, 65, also previously starred alongside the comedian in the sitcom, Anything But You, which aired from 1989 through 1992 for a total of four seasons.

She took to her main Instagram page on Wednesday upon hearing the sad news of the actor's passing - which was first announced by Bette Midler.

Along with sharing an assortment of throwback images of herself with Lewis, Curtis also penned a lengthy caption, where she credited the late star for being 'the reason I am sober.'

Jamie recently celebrated 25 years of sobriety earlier this month after battling an addiction to opioids.

'I've just read that my friend Richard Lewis has died. 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,' she began.

'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.'

Jamie added, '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.'

'He was also a stand-up comic and hated the live audience, where I, who had never done a play, loved it.'

'He used to hide his lines everywhere on the set, on props, door frames, on my face in a close up and was always carrying a clipboard with his lines on them. It turns out he was a wonderful actor. Deep and so freaking funny.'

The actress recalled, 'We went through the death of our friend and costar, Richard Frank, together and grieved the loss of our producer and friend, John Ritter.'

'Richard's last text to me, was hoping that I could convince ABC/Disney to put out another boxed set of episodes of the show,' she wrote to her followers.

Jamie then revealed, 'He also is the reason I am sober. He helped me. I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone.'

She included another throwback picture with Lewis, as well as a snippet of lyrics from the theme song in Anything But Love

She also referenced to his wife, Joyce Lapinsky, adding, 'He found love with Joyce and that, of course, besides his sobriety, is what mattered most to him. I'm weeping as I write this.'

'Strange way of saying thank you to a sweet and funny man. Rest in laughter, Richard. My Marty, I love you, Hannah!' she concluded.

Jamie additionally uploaded a second post as she mourned the loss of her longtime pal and former co-star.

She included another throwback picture with Lewis, as well as a snippet of lyrics from the theme song in Anything But Love.

Curtis wrote, 'In the third and final iteration of the TV, show ANYTHING BUT LOVE that ran on ABC for a few seasons, the great singer songwriter, JD Souther, wrote this gorgeous theme song.'

'Try to find it on YouTube if you can listen but I've put the words here for you. I dedicate them today to my friend Richard Lewis.'

The lyrics the actress shared included: 'If we had never met/And the world got on without us/Just as if we were never that at all/We'd be searching yet/For the next big thing that ever happened/Trying not to fall...'

'Anything but love will do/Anything but hearts that beat like thunder/Anything but love would be enough/For anyone but you.'