Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 17, 1995 TAG: 9510170023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: N.F. MENDOZA LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Medium
Catlike in body-hugging attire, Belzer strides into the restaurant wearing a long-sleeved black knit shirt, black slacks and black soft shoes - the personification of his acerbic hipster stand-up persona. He's a striking counterpoint to suit-wearing, bitingly cynical Lt. John Munch, whom he plays on NBC's ``Homicide: Life on the Street,'' which begins its new season Friday at 10 p.m. (WSLS, Channel 10).
Many fans assume his on-stage character mirrors his offstage one.
``People were afraid of me,'' Belzer, 51, acknowledges of his earliest days in stand-up. ``Reporters wouldn't talk to me; people from the audience were scared that I was going to be mean.''
But in person Belzer appears surprisingly gentle. The actor, whose on-screen demeanor keeps ``Homicide'' criminals quaking, speaks quietly as he describes his wildly funny, yet bitter and tough character.
The actor archly acknowledges that Munch is ``exactly as I would be if I were a cop.''
Why does Munch represent such a perfect example of Belzer's angry, intelligent stand-up comic persona as cop?
``I don't know,'' he acknowledges, sipping on hot tea. ``I got the part in a weird way.'' He never auditioned for the critically acclaimed drama, which premiered after Super Bowl '93. During one of his frequent guest shots on radio personality Howard Stern's show, Belzer was heard by a producer.
Munch's sharply witty speech to a suspect in the premiere - ``If you're gonna lie to me, lie to me with respect! Don't you ever lie to me like I'm Montel Williams! I'm not Montel Williams'' - was oft-quoted, helping solidify it as a favorite among critics.
``Here's a scoop for you,'' Belzer offers suddenly. His wife, actress Harlee McBride (``Young Lady Chatterley''), continues her role as ``Homicide's'' assistant medical examiner. ``There'll be a romance,'' he says, noting his heavy lobbying to date his wife on screen has paid off. ``I'm going to get to kiss my wife on TV,'' he says smugly. ``It'll be great to see Munch on a date.''
Belzer and McBride, who had just returned from hiatus, have a special affinity for the French countryside.
``My wife visited friends there,'' he explains. ``And when she came back, she said, `We have to get a house in France.''' A trip there won him over. ``I have a French mortgage with a French bank,'' to go along with his Hollywood home and Baltimore townhome.
``In stand-up I traveled so much that staying in a place for four to eight months and then moving on is nothing,'' he says of Baltimore, where the book ``Homicide'' was set and where the show shoots, cinema verite style (hand-held camera). Belzer and McBride are most often in their Baltimore home.
The Bridgeport, Conn., native became an iconoclast early. ``I got kicked outta every school I was ever in,'' he recalls. Eventually, he managed to land a job as a reporter. Writing remains an interest. ``I think if I wasn't an actor, I'd be a reporter,'' notes the author of the satirical ``How to Be a Stand-Up Comic.''
In the early '70s, while Belzer was between jobs, his first wife (McBride is wife No. 3) saw an ad for a stage show audition that eventually became 1974's cult movie ``The Groove Tube.'' Belzer found a new career.
Belzer read five newspapers daily (he still does), which provided him with material. ``I didn't have a prepared beginning and end word for my routines,'' he recalls. He'd often walk on stage talking about what he'd read in the papers that morning.
Stand-up led to a regular gig as host of New York's famed ``Catch a Rising Star.''
Along the way, Belzer took whatever acting roles came his way. He's appeared in numerous features, in whatever role he could get.
``Face it, this is a wonderful business and I'm lucky to be working,'' he says, acknowledging the capriciousness of Hollywood.
Belzer found work during ``Homicide's'' most recent hiatus in Spike Lee's feature ``Girl 6,'' the NBC movies ``Deadly Pursuits'' and ``Prince for a Day,'' and in ``Roger Corman Presents Not of This Earth'' for Showtime.
by CNB