Nows and Forevers

The actor and comedian Richard Belzer, famous for “Homicide” and “Law & Order: SVU,” has died.

I didn’t know him well, but we ran into each other at parties back in NYC when I worked at The Hollywood Reporter more than a decade ago. It got to the point where I would see him regularly and he would wave if he was talking to someone or we would stop and talk, briefly. I found him fun and friendly. I didn’t always find actors to be super friendly, but he was different. He would go out of his way to talk.

We found two things in common off the bat: We both were from Connecticut and we both had worked as reporters at the same newspaper, the Bridgeport Post, although 30+ years apart. And he just was a nice person, too.