Post by Finaddict on Mar 26, 2008 6:01:29 GMT -5
From the Courier Mail in Australia. Kinda scary
Life imitating article: Siobhan Duck
March 25, 2008 11:00pm
IT WAS a case of life imitating art when Richard Belzer found himself being stalked by an obsessed fan.
As Detective John Munch on Law & Order: SVU, Belzer has spent nine years investigating sex crimes on screen - rape, pedophilia, stalking and incest.
So when he became the victim of a woman who tracked him to his holiday home in rural France, he was more than a little concerned.
"About 99.9 per cent of the fans are nice," he says. "But I did have one woman stalk me. She followed me all the way from Kentucky to France. It was a bit scary, actually.
"I've also had marriage proposals in the mail - no underwear, though."
Belzer has played the world-weary detective for 15 years - first on Homicide: Life on the Street and now in SVU.
"When Homicide was cancelled I heard there was going to be a new Law & Order series," he says.
"I asked my agent to call (series creator) Dick Wolf to see if Munch could make the move from Baltimore (where Homicide: Life on the Streets was based) to New York and keep the character the same.
"They loved the idea and luckily were able to sort out the legal and contractual issues to make that happen.
"It's a dream as an actor to get to play a character you really like. I know a lot of people - without mentioning any names - who feel trapped in good jobs because they don't like what they're doing."
Belzer has appeared as Munch in a record-breaking 10 different series - including Arrested Development, The X Files, Mad About You and Sesame Street.
He also popped up in the movie A Very Brady Sequel.
But when the Hollywood writers' strike forced an extended break in filming, Belzer decided to use the time to return to his roots - stand-up comedy.
Best known in Australia for drama, in the US he is a noted comedian, whose routines involve musical comedy and impressions of stars as varied as Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen.
Belzer, whose cousin is Henry Winkler from Happy Days, always wanted to be an actor. "At school I was always getting in trouble or kicked out for making people laugh," he says.
"I was the class clown. People kept telling me I should be an actor because I was also quite gifted at impressions."
Finally he was talked into auditioning for The Groove Tube, a 1974 satirical film co-starring Chevy Chase. He won the part. That led Belzer to other comedic roles, including on Saturday Night Live, where he worked with comedic greats such as Bill Murray and John Belushi.
Belzer also has an intimate knowledge of the world of television wrestling -- although it didn't come by choice.
Belzer - who once hosted his own chat show - was interviewing Hulk Hogan when he asked his guest to demonstrate a sleeper hold.
Hogan took the request a little too literally and knocked Belzer out cold.
Belzer hit his head on the floor, splitting it open, and later sued the wrestling star for compensation.
"He attacked me while I was doing my live television show," Belzer says.
"I ended up with nine stitches. That was 1985 and I haven't seen him since. He's a steroid-using freak."
At least something good came out of the whole incident - Belzer settled out of court and used his compensation to buy his house in France.
Life imitating article: Siobhan Duck
March 25, 2008 11:00pm
IT WAS a case of life imitating art when Richard Belzer found himself being stalked by an obsessed fan.
As Detective John Munch on Law & Order: SVU, Belzer has spent nine years investigating sex crimes on screen - rape, pedophilia, stalking and incest.
So when he became the victim of a woman who tracked him to his holiday home in rural France, he was more than a little concerned.
"About 99.9 per cent of the fans are nice," he says. "But I did have one woman stalk me. She followed me all the way from Kentucky to France. It was a bit scary, actually.
"I've also had marriage proposals in the mail - no underwear, though."
Belzer has played the world-weary detective for 15 years - first on Homicide: Life on the Street and now in SVU.
"When Homicide was cancelled I heard there was going to be a new Law & Order series," he says.
"I asked my agent to call (series creator) Dick Wolf to see if Munch could make the move from Baltimore (where Homicide: Life on the Streets was based) to New York and keep the character the same.
"They loved the idea and luckily were able to sort out the legal and contractual issues to make that happen.
"It's a dream as an actor to get to play a character you really like. I know a lot of people - without mentioning any names - who feel trapped in good jobs because they don't like what they're doing."
Belzer has appeared as Munch in a record-breaking 10 different series - including Arrested Development, The X Files, Mad About You and Sesame Street.
He also popped up in the movie A Very Brady Sequel.
But when the Hollywood writers' strike forced an extended break in filming, Belzer decided to use the time to return to his roots - stand-up comedy.
Best known in Australia for drama, in the US he is a noted comedian, whose routines involve musical comedy and impressions of stars as varied as Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen.
Belzer, whose cousin is Henry Winkler from Happy Days, always wanted to be an actor. "At school I was always getting in trouble or kicked out for making people laugh," he says.
"I was the class clown. People kept telling me I should be an actor because I was also quite gifted at impressions."
Finally he was talked into auditioning for The Groove Tube, a 1974 satirical film co-starring Chevy Chase. He won the part. That led Belzer to other comedic roles, including on Saturday Night Live, where he worked with comedic greats such as Bill Murray and John Belushi.
Belzer also has an intimate knowledge of the world of television wrestling -- although it didn't come by choice.
Belzer - who once hosted his own chat show - was interviewing Hulk Hogan when he asked his guest to demonstrate a sleeper hold.
Hogan took the request a little too literally and knocked Belzer out cold.
Belzer hit his head on the floor, splitting it open, and later sued the wrestling star for compensation.
"He attacked me while I was doing my live television show," Belzer says.
"I ended up with nine stitches. That was 1985 and I haven't seen him since. He's a steroid-using freak."
At least something good came out of the whole incident - Belzer settled out of court and used his compensation to buy his house in France.