The comic, who went by the moniker “The Prince of Pain,” was 76 years old and well-known for venting his neuroses in wild, stream-of-consciousness outbursts while wearing all-black.
Lewis, a native of New York, started his stand-up career in 1969 after earning his degree from The Ohio State University.
He received recognition in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humourists” and was listed by Comedy Central as one of the greatest 50 stand-up comedians of all time.
Lewis told GQ that he got the idea for his characteristic appearance from watching the cowboy in all black TV Western Have Gun – Will Travel as a young child.
Additionally, he made the phrase “from hell” well-known, as in “the date from hell” or “the job from hell.”
“That just came out of my brain one day and I kept repeating it a lot for some reason,” he explained. “The black clothing is the same thing. I simply felt so at ease from this.
