Richard Lewis says he's been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and will retire from stand-up comedy after 50 years.
But he wanted to end speculation about his visibility as he's been largely absent in the public eye for the last few years. Lewis said after four consecutive surgeries that included back surgery and a hip replacement, he realized he was walking stiffly and shuffling his feet.
"I went to a neurologist and they gave me a brain scan and I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and that was about two years ago," Lewis said via video on his Twitter account. "But luckily I got it late in life and they say you progress very slowly if at all and I'm on the right meds so I'm cool."
Lewis says he'd pretty much made the decision three years ago after completing his last comedy tour, even before his health challenges. He announced to let his fans know the entire story as they continued to ask when he'd return to the road.
"The last three and a half years, I've had sort of a rocky time and people said, 'I haven't heard from you, are you still touring?'", Lewis said. "Here's really what happened. Three and half years ago I was in the middle of a tour and I finally ended it with a show and I said, 'You know I'm at the top of my game, after 50 years almost I'm going to call it quits.'Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO's longest-tenured comedy series, has wrapped Season 12, which is likely to be its final one. No one has confirmed that yet, though, nor has a release date been announced.
