'Curb Your Enthusiasm' cast members who passed before the show's 2024 finale
Before Richard Lewis' death in early 2024, he filmed final scenes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," including an argument with Larry David over a will
The final episode of the long-running, highly acclaimed American sitcom "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will air Sunday night on HBO.
As the show draws to a close after 12 seasons, fans everywhere are looking back on the most and least favorable episodes, memorable lines and former guest stars.
On Friday, Larry David gathered in front of fans to indulge in the history of "Curb" ahead of the show’s finale. Susie Essman, who plays the hostile Susie Greene, made a surprise appearance at the Tribeca and HBO-hosted event.
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Essman has brought life to Greene's scornful character since the show's start, and is even willing to return if Larry reverts from wrapping up permanently. However, some former cast members won’t have the chance to do the same in the case of a reboot.
These are some of the former cast members and guest stars of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" who have passed away since the show first aired in 2000.
Richard Lewis passed away on Feb. 28, 2024, peacefully in his home at 76 years old.
On the "Curb" Instagram page, Larry David signed a caption of Lewis which reads, "Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he's been like a brother to me. He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I'll never forgive him."
Lewis played a version of himself and appeared in the very first episode of 2000 titled "The Pants Tent." In the final season of "Curb," before Lewis’ passing, he filmed an episode where he tells Larry he has added him to his will. In Larry fashion, he freaks out and argues with Lewis about the obvious manipulation behind the decision.
Bob Einstein played Larry’s longtime friend Marty Funkhouser on "Curb."
Einstein was a two-time Emmy winner, and he passed away at 76 years old in 2019 following a cancer diagnosis.
During an episode of Bill Simmons’ podcast, Larry said of Einstein, "I would do a scene with him and in the scene, as we’re filming, he would start telling a joke in the scene."
"And I'm letting him go on, but in my head I'm going, ‘OK, OK come on, come on,’ cause I know I'm cutting it, but he would do it anyway," Larry said. "And everybody would laugh. He was amazing."
Mike Hagerty played Mike Duffy, the AAMCO Guy, in season one of "Curb."
During an early episode, Larry and his wife, Cheryl, played by Cheryl Hines, entertain Duffy and his wife one night at a dinner party. The following day, Duffy apologizes to Larry for sitting at the head of the table. Among interruptions and confused dialogue, Larry apologizes that Cheryl does not want Duffy and his wife to stay at their Martha’s Vineyard home over the summer, making the conversation awkward.
Hagerty is best remembered for his role as Mr. Treeger on the popular sitcom "Friends." He passed in 2022 at 67 years old.
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Allan Arbus appears as Larry’s Uncle Nathan in season one of "Curb."
During an episode where Larry runs into an ex-girlfriend, he is thrust into an incest survivor meeting where he lies about childhood abuse from his Uncle Nathan. The lie backfires as, later, Uncle Nathan shows up for a visit.
Arbus died at 95 years old in 2013.
In a season one "Curb" episode, Anne Haney plays Mary’s mother.
The episode titled "Ted and Mary" introduces actress Mary Steenburgen and actor Ted Danson as a husband and wife duo who are new friends to Larry and Cheryl. Larry takes a liking to Mary and meets her at the mall to shop. There, her mother, played by Haney, joins the two on an afternoon of shopping and lunch.
Things get awkward when, during a meal, Larry accidentally drinks from Haney’s glass. This sparks germophobic uneasiness from Larry, and he acts disgusted at the table.
Haney passed shortly after her appearance in 2001 at 67 years old.
Taylor Negron appeared on "Curb" as a guest star in 2007 during season six of the show. During an episode called "The Lefty Call," Larry has a run-in with Negron’s character, Daviday the Waiter.
During the episode, the Davids and the Greenes are having lunch. Susie Greene wants to take her leftovers home to feed the dog. Daviday advises food for humans cannot be packed up for animals, per the restaurant’s policy.
After a series of events, the Greenes receive the to-go container and feed the dog from it. The dog gets sick and Larry heads back to the restaurant to complain to Daviday that he, himself, has been sick for hours.
Shelley Berman, Grammy Award winner and Emmy-nominated actor, appeared on "Curb" from season one through eight as Nat David, Larry’s warm and kind but bizarre father.
In 2008, Berman told the Las Vegas Sun, "I love working with Larry David. He’s a brilliant comedian."
Berman passed away in 2017 at 92 years old. Following his death, the "Curb" Facebook page posted, "The HBO family mourns the loss of our friend Shelley Berman. We'll miss you, boychik."
Louis Nye appeared as Jeff Greene’s father on "Curb."
During the very first episode of "Curb," titled "The Pants Tent," it was happenstance that the Davids and the extended Greene family were out to dinner at the same restaurant. Throughout the episode, Larry struggles with the material of his pants, which leads to a series of inappropriate reactions.
On a podcast episode of "The History of Curb Your Enthusiasm with Jeff Garlin & Susie Essman," Garlin, who plays Jeff Greene, says of Nye, "I think the funniest line, it’s not even a line, something someone said on the show belongs to Louie Nye in an episode down the road."
He adds that most of the show at that time was improvised and Nye was not given the line, "It was rotten, rotten what you did," which he directed at Larry.
Nye passed away at 92 years old in 2005.
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Angela Paton played Ruth in a season five episode of "Curb."
During a game of bingo at Nat David’s nursing home, Larry believed the game was being fixed by Ruth and another woman named Lenore.
After Larry wins bingo, Lenore claims she did not call "I-17," which he, of course, argues. The very next call, Ruth wins. Later in the episode, Larry is accused of trying to kill Ruth by a room full of nursing home residents.
Paton passed away in 2016 at 86 years old.
