Law & Order: SVU actor and comedian Richard Belzer dies at 78

After a lengthy career in comedy, Richard Belzer portrayed an unconventional role as a gruff New York officer on Law and Order SVU. He passed away at the age of 78. His buddy, Saturday Night Live star Laraine Newman, broke the news of his passing first on social media.

"I'm so sad to hear of Richard Belzer's passing," Laraine said. "I loved this guy so much. He was one of my first friends when I got to New York to do SNL. We used to go out to dinner every week at Sheepshead Bay for lobster. One of the funniest people ever. A master at crowd work. RIP dearest," added she.

Belzer served as Saturday Night Live's warm-up comic in the 1970s. Also, he had notable cameos in the movies Fame and Author! about 1980.

"Richard Belzer's Detective John Munch is one of television's iconic characters," said a statement from show creator and producer Dick Wolf. "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."

His next position, which lasted for 122 episodes, was as Detective John Munch in 'Homicide: Life on the Street'. Moreover, he appeared on 'Crazy About You' and 'The X-Files'. After that, he started working on 'Law & Order: SVU', where he played a part for 20 seasons.