A comic basket-case, Richard Lewis seemed to be stooped over by his problems, pawing at his forehead, whining and groaning over a catalogue of problems related to a depressed childhood and a miserable social life.

Influenced by Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce, Lewis evolved into an unusual combination of the two. From Woody Allen he took the comedy of neurosis, the sharpness of one-liners, and the kind of vulnerability women found fascinating. From Lenny Bruce, he took the style of restlessly prowl the stage talking in a confessional stream-of consciousness style. Possessing the greasy-haired angular good looks and charisma of Lenny, Lewis found himself marketable as a leading man in films and sitcoms.

Lewis admitted Woody “wrote the strongest one-liners… and what made it so great was it worked for his attitude and his look…But Lenny, if there’s anything smiliar, we’re both manic, we have a lot of energy, a lot of angst coming out…I was blown away by his double Berkley album…he was so ahead of the field and always will be. Sadly, once I got into comedy I couldn’t enjoy it, I don’t like to listen to other comics, I’m so frighteningly ethical.”

Born in Brooklyn, Richard graduated from Ohio State with a degree in marketing. His comedy career began in 1971 when he first began performing in local clubs. “I prepared for six weeks,” he said. “Actually my father passed away and it somehow—it was like a catalyst. I was struggling, doing some copy writing, working in the Museum of Modern Art library and a sporting goods store…then my father passed away, and I guess it was like a void that had to be filled. I had been goofing around, writing lines for comics, and I just decided to go on stage….”

Lewis’s rise to popularity took time. He appeared for a few weeks on “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” in 1977 but “In one sketch, I played a rutabaga in a chef’s salad dance number. My own mother literally didn’t recognize me.” A made for TV film, “Diary of a Young Comic” won some good notices but little else.

A regular on David Letterman’s show since 1982, Lewis starred in a 1985 Showtime cable special “I’m in Pain” which featured guest interview spots by Robin Williams and others. This was a turning point for him. In 1988 he starred in a new HBO special, “I’m Exhausted.” He matched a persuasive personality with sharp one-liners: “I would generally insist, before making love with a date, that we boil ourselves.” “I’m a hypochondirac. My blood type is very negative.” “My grandparents had a bumper sticker—I’d rather be weeping.” At a time when black comics like Eddie Murphy and Arsenio were the rage, along with completely non-ethnic performers like Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Garry Shandling, Lewis was conspicuously Jewish, a link to the old tradition in comedy that included Allen and Bruce.

When he co-starred with Jamie Curtis in the sitcom “Anything But Love,” a female writer for US called him “the coolest neurotic since Woody Allen… (he) has charmed his way into America’s heart…we love him because his love life makes our own more bearable…” The show sputtered in and out of ABC’s line-up and was eventually shelved permanently. Lewis returned to stand-up, and poor Richard’s ailment act continued to dwell on miserable relationships: “I want to marry the woman of someone else’s dreams…My ex-girlfriends are listed in “Who’s Who in Torment.”