Richard Lewis said he was doing “pretty well” in one of his last interviews amid a three-year battle with Parkinson’s disease… before his death at age 76 from a heart attack.

Richard Lewis said he had been doing “pretty well” health-wise amid his battle with Parkinson’s disease, in an interview less than three weeks ago.

The beloved comedian, who died Tuesday at age 76 after a fatal heart attack, spoke with People on Feb. 9, saying he was “disappointed” to have to miss Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Jan. 30 season 12 premiere party to avoid any setbacks amid his health battle.

“I’ve had some occasional difficulty walking due to Parkinson’s in recent years,” Lewis, who has played a fictional version of himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm since 2000, told the publication. “It’s not important.”

Lewis continued: ‘I’m coping well so far, but I didn’t want to spend five or six hours mixing with so many people. It’s just asking for problems.

Lewis, who appeared in films such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Wagons East, Once Upon a Crime… and Leaving Las Vegas, concluded by saying, “All things considered, I’m doing pretty well.”

The comedian took to social media on April 24, 2023, and revealed that he had been battling Parkinson’s disease since 2021.

“Hey, listen, a couple of weeks ago I finished season 12 of Curb Your Enthusiasm and it was an amazing season and I’m so grateful to be a part of that show,” he said. “But you know, in the last three and a half years I’ve been going through some tough times and people were saying, ‘I haven’t heard from you, are you still on tour?'”

Lewis said, “Well, this is actually what happened,” noting that he decided to stop traveling three and a half years ago, feeling the time had come.

“I said, ‘You know, I’m at the top of my game; after almost 50 years, I’m going to call it quits,'” he said. ‘And I felt really good about that. And then, out of nowhere, shit broke loose.”

Lewis, who starred in the ABC series Anything But Love alongside Jamie Lee Curtis from 1989 to 1992, said he underwent four consecutive surgeries on his back, shoulder and hip, adding, “It was bad luck, but that’s the way it is.” life”.

Lewis said that “on top of all that,” he started “walking a little stiff” and “dragging his feet” two years ago, prompting him to visit a neurologist. He said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease following a brain scan.

“Luckily I got it late in my life and they say if anything you progress very slowly and I’m on the right medications and it’s great,” Lewis said. ‘I just wanted you to know that’s where he’s been.

‘I’m done with stand-up, I’m just concentrating on writing and acting. I have Parkinson’s disease but I’m under a doctor’s care and everything is fine and I love my wife, I love my puppy and I love all my friends and fans.’

Lewis’ lifelong friend Larry David was among those who publicly mourned his death following the news of his passing.

“Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he has been like a brother to me,” David said in a statement released by HBO. ‘He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me cry and I will never forgive him for that.’

Other notable names in entertainment who hailed the late comedian include Bette Midler, Steve Martin, Jimmy Kimmel, Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks and Michael McKean, among others.