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Richard Belzer is seen at the Monte Carlo TV Festival on June 12, 2012, in Monaco.
CNN  — 

Richard Belzer, the comedian and actor best known for playing the acerbic Detective John Munch across a number of NBC crime dramas, including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” over more than two decades, has died, according to his longtime manager. He was 78.

Belzer “passed away peacefully” early Sunday morning local time at his home in France, according to Eric Gardner, his manager.

Writer Bill Scheft, a longtime friend of the actor, told The Hollywood Reporter that Belzer had “lots of health issues.”

Belzer was famed for his role as Detective Munch, first appearing on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” from 1993 to 1999. He reprised that role in the TV movie “Homicide: The Movie” in 2000 and also appeared as the famed detective in four episodes of “Law & Order.”

Belzer appeared as Munch again in “Law & Order: SVU,” where he became a series regular, appearing in 326 episodes between 1999 and 2016. Though his character retired in 2013, he returned in two additional episodes after his departure.

Like Belzer himself, detective Munch had a conspiratorial mindset, a Jewish background and a dry sense of humor. His scrawny, wisecracking, glasses-wearing investigator became over time one of the most recognizable cops in TV crime show history.

“I would never be a detective, but if I were, that’s how I’d be,” he said in a recent interview with The Boomer Tube. “The character is very close to how I would be. They write to all my paranoia and anti-establishment dissidence and conspiracy theories, so it’s been a lot of fun for me. It’s been a dream actually.”

Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
Fare-thee-well, Munch. After more than two decades as Detective John Munch, actor Richard Belzer is retiring from his portrayal on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" on October 16. Here's a look back at the character who holds the record for appearing on the most TV shows, starting with "Homicide: Life on the Street" in 1993. See where else Munch has popped up. ...
Eric Liebowitz/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
Here Munch, left, appears on an episode of the original "Law & Order" series in 1999 opposite Detective Lennie Briscoe (played by the late Jerry Orbach).
From Fox
Belzer, left, as Munch investigates a crime in "Homicide's" hometown of Baltimore in a 1997 episode of "The X-Files" called "Unusual Suspects," which "Breaking Bad's" Vince Gilligan wrote.
Will Hart/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
Detective Odafin Tutuola (played by Ice T) has been partnered up with Belzer's Munch since 1999 on "Law & Order: SVU."
Viacom/Everett
Munch also appeared on the short-lived TV show "The Beat" in 2000, which featured actors Derek Cecil, left, and Mark Ruffalo. The episode was called "They Say It's Your Birthday."
From NBC
Munch keeps in the family when he appears on the "Law and Order" spinoff "Trial by Jury." The show lasted one season from 2005 to 2006.
From Fox
"Arrested Development" gets a visit from Munch in 2006 on an episode called "Exit Strategy." This time, he played Professor Munch, who taught a scrapbooking class as a cover to get information out of Tobias (David Cross).
From HBO
Munch returns to Baltimore in an episode from season five of "The Wire." Several actors have appeared in various parts on "Homicide," "Oz," "Law & Order" and "The Wire" thanks in part to the close working relationship of "Wire" creator David Simon and "Oz" creator Tom Fontana. The two collaborated on "Homicide: Life on the Street."
Ali Goldstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
The gang at "30 Rock" receives a visit from Ice-T, left, and Belzer in character when Jenna Maroney (played by Jane Krakowski) lands a role on "SVU" as a corpse.

Over the course of his career, Belzer portrayed a detective in 11 television series, including “The Wire” and “The X-Files.” He made crossover appearances in-character in the comedies “30 Rock,” “Arrested Development” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and his detective Munch was even turned into a muppet in the “Sesame Street” skit “Special Letters Unit.”

In a statement posted to the Twitter account for Wolf Entertainment, “Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf said Belzer’s Munch character was “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,” Wolf said. “Richard brought humor and joy into all our lives, was the consummate professional, and we will all miss him very much.”

His colleagues, among them Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay, offered praise of their co-star.

“Goodbye my dear, dear friend,” Hargitay wrote on Instagram. “I will miss you, your unique light, and your singular take on this strange world. I feel blessed to have known you and adored you and worked with you, side by side, for so many years.”

Other fond memories came from comedians Billy Crystal, Richard Lewis and Laraine Newman, who singled out his comedic crowd work.

“I don’t think there’s a comic of our generation who wouldn’t cite Richard Belzer, as not only a major influence, but as absolutely the funniest guy,” said Paul Shaffer, the comedian and musician on David Letterman’s late night shows. “Now, everybody moves up one.”

From comedy to crime

Justin Stephens/NBC/Getty Images
Richard Belzer as Det. John Munch in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

Despite his crime-solving career, the Connecticut-born actor’s early focus was on comedy and rooted in New York City. He appeared in the city’s comedy clubs, including Catch a Rising Star and The Improv, and was known for his unsympathetic comments on political and social events of the time. 

His breakout role came in 1974, when he starred alongside Chevy Chase in the counter-culture film “The Groove Tube,” which featured a compilation of skits that included social commentary on televisions shows of the ’70s. He later worked as the warm-up act for “Saturday Night Live” and appeared in a few sketches in its early seasons.

Belzer appeared in the hit 1980 film “Fame” as M.C. Later film roles came in 1982’s “Night Shift” followed by the Al Pacino-starring “Scarface” one year later. And in the 1990s, he appeared on the superhero shows “The Flash” and “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.”

Then came the opportunity on “Homicide.” The network wanted a “hunk” to play the role, but the filmmaker Barry Levinson cast Belzer as detective Munch after hearing him on the radio, he told the AV Club in 2010.

An established author, Belzer was a known conspiracy buff and wrote the book, “UFOs, JFK and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Believe.” He also wrote several comedy books and novels, including “I Am Not A Cop!,” a fictionalized story about a TV actor who plays a detective and has to solve his friend’s disappearance.

Belzer’s last credited role was in the 2016 film “The Comedian” starring Robert de Niro, in which Belzer portrayed himself.