Richard Jay Belzer's Net Worth as of 2024
$16 Million

Richard Jay Belzer was born on the 4th August 1944, in Bridgeport, Connecticut USA, of Jewish descent. He is a comedian and actor, recognised as John Munch, the character from the television series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (1999 – present), and “Homicide: Life on the Street” (1993 – 1999). Richard Belzer has been accumulating his net worth being active in the entertainment business since 1972.

How rich is the actor? It has been estimated that the overall size of Richard Belzer’s net worth is as much as $16 million, as of the data given in mid-2016.

Richard Belzer Net Worth $16 Million

To begin with, Belzer was born the second child in the family; Belzer’s mother, Francis Belzer, died of cancer when he was 18 years old, his father, Charles Belzer, committed suicide when he was 22 years old, and his elder brother committed suicide too, in 2014.

Getting back to Belzer’s youth, after he matriculated from the Andrew Warde High School in Fairfield, Belzer studied at the Dean Junior College in Franklin (Massachusetts), but from which he was expelled after his participation as a ringleader in student demonstrations. In the 1960s, he worked as a journalist for the Bridgeport Post and briefly as a yoga teacher. Then Richard joined the US Army.

At the end of the 1960s, he moved to New York, where he pursued a career as a stand-up comedian in nightclubs like The Improv, Pips, and Catch a Rising Star; in addition, Belzer was temporarily working for the television show “Saturday Night Live” as a warm-up comedian. In the 1970s, he started his career as an actor, and in the following years he had supporting roles in films such as “Scarface”, “Nightshift” and others. There were also presentations of humorous radio broadcasts as “Brink & Belzer”, and guest appearances in programs like “The Howard Stern Show” and similar. In the 1980s, he hosted the talk show “Hot Properties”; in this show the wrestler Hulk Hogan, once demonstrated his martial art signature movement, and Belzer fell to the ground unconscious, and hit on the head, which resulted in an injury. Belzer subsequently received from Hogan a seven-figure sum for pain and suffering, with which he bought a house in France. As a result, the sum has significantly increased Richard Belzer’s net worth.

In the 1990s, Belzer appeared in numerous television series, and took part as a voice actor in animated series like “South Park”. He also appeared in “Superman – The Adventures of Lois & Clark” (1994). He starred in “Homicide” (1993-1999) and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (1999 – present), respectively, in the role of police detective John Munch. To add more, Belzer often participates in political and humorous television shows like “Real Time with Bill Maher”.

Finally, in the personal life of the actor, Belzer has been married three times – he has been married to Harlee McBride since 1985. Prior to this, he was married to Dalia Danoch from 1976 to 1978, and Gail Susan Ross from 1966 to 1972.