Andrew Warde High School Product Richard Belzer, Noted Actor and Comedian, Passes Away

Richard Belzer, who attended and graduated from Andrew Warde High School (Class of 1962) and was a stand-up comedian who became one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU, has died. He was 78. 

Belzer died on Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southern France, according to his longtime friend, Bill Scheft.

Here is Belzer's photo and caption from the Andrew Warde High School 1962 Flame yearbook:

Belzer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Frances and Charles Belzer. His father was a candy and tobacco wholesaler. 

Belzer grew up with his parents and older brother, Leonard. As a youth, Belzer worked as a paperboy and at Modern Tobacco (his parents' business) part-time while attending high school. 

He was "kicked out of every school he attended." Nonetheless, Belzer was perhaps the most recognizable Andrew Warde High School graduate from the Class of 1962. 

Both parents died while he was young; he was 18 when his mother died of cancer and 22 when his father committed suicide.

The tribute video to the Andrew Warde High School Class of 1962 on its 50-year reunion acknowledged the "Munch."

Belzer, cousin of actor Henry Winkler, played the wise-cracking homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories for more than two decades and across 10 series, including appearances on the hit comedies 30 Rock and Arrested Development. 

Belzer first played Munch on a 1993 episode of Homicide, and last played him in 2016 on Law & Order: SVU. Belzer never auditioned for the role. 

After hearing him on The Howard Stern Show, producer Barry Levinson brought Belzer in to read for the part. “I would never be a detective,” Belzer once said. “But if I were, that’s how I’d be. They write to all my paranoia and anti-establishment dissidence and conspiracy theories. So it’s been a lot of fun for me. A dream, really.”

Paul

Warde Girls Captured First FCIAC Basketball Championship 47 Years Ago Today by Defeating Westhill, 62-49, in Norwalk

Andrew Warde High School's girls' basketball team captured the FCIAC championship 47 years ago today by defeating Westhill High School, 62-49, in Norwalk. Kathy Anderson, tournament MVP, led the Crimson Eagles to their 15th victory in 17 games by scoring 20 points, while Diane Dionis and Debbie Mendell had 12 points apiece to aid the Warde attack.

The Crimson Eagles led the entire way against the Western Division champions, marching to a 32-25 halftime lead. The Lady Vikings lost for only the third time in 17 outings. Warde advanced to the title game by defeating Western Division runner-up Stamford, courtesy of Anderson's 19 markers. Westhill moved into the finals by defeating Eastern Division runner-up Ludlowe.

The champions bolted out to a 12-9 lead after the first quarter before taking the seven point cushion into the intermission break. Warde outscored Westhill, 14-10, in the third quarter to increase its lead to 46-35 heading into the final frame. Warde won the final quarter, 16-14, to post the comfortable 13-point margin of victory.

With a new head coach, Miss Mary Beth McGirr, the girls got off to a slow start early in the season, but they staged a remarkable comeback to end up winning the league title. One of the reasons for the team's mid-season surge was the play of Anderson, a sophomore sensation. Her phenomenal improvement from the beginning of the season paralleled the improved play of the team as a whole.

By the end of the campaign, Anderson was habitually leading the team in points and rebounds every game. She earned All-FCIAC first-team honors, and she was named the MVP of the league tournament. But, Anderson wasn't the only reason the team won the coveted FCIAC championship.

The many other players who contributed much to the team's achievements included seniors Dionis, Mendell, who earned All-FCIAC second-team recognition, Gayle Johnson, and Marti Causey. The juniors included Kris Ness and Betsy Niesyn. The FCIAC championship game was played Friday evening, February 13, 1976, at Norwalk High School.

Paul